Imperfection
by EsophagealEruption
Summary: It wells up inside you and it makes you sick. That's the only way I can describe this feeling - it's broken, dirty, rusty and ugly. It takes you over and it rules you, because you know you'll never be good enough. It's a never-ending despicable nature.
1. Chapter 1

Her lips were soft, like velvet. She'd just eaten a breath mint, and her mouth still had the slight, stinging, pleasant flavor of winter-mint about it when I first kissed her. On top of that building in Tokyo... That was the first time I'd ever kissed a girl. Ever kissed anyone, to be honest. But...

It didn't feel like I thought it would. It thought it would be like in those movies I like to watch in my room, late at night. I thought it'd feel like an explosion, fireworks, a river of passion...Something. But it was just her mouth against mine, a tinge of tongue at the corner of my mouth. Nothing else.

Ever since I met Starfire... I wanted her. She's perfect – She's got all the right curves, fits nicely against my body... She's smart, in her own way.. She's creative, she's fashionable, she's original... Sweethearted, clean, kind... She takes care of me, and all the other Titans when we're ill. She likes to [attempt] to fix me breakfast in the mornings.. She's everything a guy could ever want. And I know that. It makes sense, and for the last six months, I've been proud to say, "Hey. That's my girlfriend."

But lately... I've been wondering if... If this is right?


	2. Chapter 2

Hm-hm! n_n I like chocolate, I really want some.. I had a mini refried bean b'rito for supper, and a Doritos! :D

* * *

Robin poked his head into BeastBoy's door. It was a lot cleaner than it had been last year – the youngest teammate had matured greatly over the last year. He hoped that hanging around kids between two and four years older than him didn't bother him too much, and force that maturity.

BeastBoy was in the shower – Robin could hear it, now. The Boy Wonder stepped inside, looking around. A lava lamp was lit on the desk, another on the dresser, and another on a vanity that Robin had been totally unaware the changeling had. Other than a pair of boxers peeking out from under the bed, and a few scattered graphic novels, the floor was clean. Robin stepped inside, feeling slightly.. shocked at how very obviously little he knew about the younger man.

There was a bookshelf! A Bookshelf! In BEASTBOY'S room!

Robin walked over to it, and bent down to look at it. There were three shelves. On the first, he saw his teammates' favorite movies. He remembered the green boy asking to watch some of them on Movie Night. Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour [all of them, actually], Eye of the Dragon, 50 First Dates, The Terminator series, and City of Angels? Robin shook his head. He never pegged BeastBoy as a romance dud. Maybe it was really – Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan? Nah, nah, must have porno or somethin' in it, the black-haired boy thought.

The second shelf was nil but graphic novels, some that Robin even knew – Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Naruto, InuYasha – and others that he was curious about – Sukisho, Angel's Feather, Gravitation... They sounded..Interesting.

The third shelf was actual books. Short ones, but they were books – Robin noted that there were 7 Cirque du Freak books, Twilight, Dracula, and..

"What's this..?" Robin muttered, reaching for a black, untitled book with a worn spine. He pulled it out, and looked at the cover. In childish handwriting, it read, "PRIVAET GARS JURNL DONT READ espeshilly mom and dad and freddy"

Robin smiled, and wondered who Freddy was, absently. The journal was cute. Some of the letters were even backwards. He opened it, tentatively.

The first page read: "this notbook blongs to garfield logan do not read anemor if you ar not him"

The Boy Wonder blatantly ignored the warning. He flipped through a few pages, quickly. The first pages were written in crayon, and mostly were pictures and 'mom is mean but dad is nice' and vice-versa. Then there were pages with dried tears, where the pages were warped that were about his green skin and missing his parents. The handwriting got neater and smaller, and Robin flipped until it was long, flowing, fluid cursive. It reminded him of Raven's handwriting. About to read a recent entry, he heard the water stop. Quickly, he replaced the journal.

Stealthily, he moved to the dresser, and watched the lava lamp. This one was purple. Under it, BeastBoy had written, "I love Raven!" in Sharpie.

The door from BeastBoy's bathroom opened. The young man crackled his shoulders as he walked out, a towel around his waist. As he noticed Robin, he yelped, and ran into the bathroom before Robin even turned around.

"Dude! What are you doin' in here!?" a muffled shout rang out.

"Uh...We're going to the mall... Well, the girls are. I figured you, me, 'n' Cy could ditch 'em for the arcade. You in, man?"

There was a pause. It wasn't long, but Robin noticed it.

"Yeah, man! Just go on out to the living room! I left my clothes out there, in my room, so, ah, leave, and I'll be right there!"

_'He sounds awfully nervous,'_ Robing thought. "Aight, man, see you in five, got it?"

"Yeah."

Robin left.

BeastBoy sighed, relieved as he heard the door close. Vacantly, he wondered what Robin had been doing in his room, anyhow. He hoped his leader didn't find anything questionable, that's for sure. Frowning, he reopened the door, and peeked out. Nothing. No one.

Grabbing a long-sleeve athletic shirt made from jersey material and a pair of jeans that had recently gotten too big, he figured he'd gotten into the bathroom quickly enough that Robin hadn't noted his imperfections. He went back into the bathroom, just in case someone popped in. The mirror had unfogged. He didn't want to look at himself.

But he did.

His eyes were tired. Over the past year, his head had caught up with his growing, as did his body. Instead of 5 inches shorter than Robin, he was now only 3 inches shorter. His eyes didn't look as big, and his skin was softer. His chest was slightly bigger, and thin, lean, strong little muscles poked out of his wiry, taut frame. He still found imperfection.

His skin was green, and the darkening green under his eyes was becoming more apparent. He'd been thinking too hard lately. About this imperfection of his. He had a mole on his shoulder he didn't like, another at a 45 degree angle and three inches from his bellybutton. His stomach looked too big. His arms looked too small. His ears were too pointy. His teeth too sharp. His skin too green. He was too short. His hair wasn't soft enough. It was too long. His eyebrows were uneven. He turned his back to the mirror, and bit his tongue to keep from crying.

_'Crying doesn't fix this,'_ he thought, repeating it in his head for a minute. The prickling at his eyes faded. He pulled on some boxers, then the jeans. He needed a belt – he'd lost some weight recently, and these wouldn't stay up. He looked at his arms. Even his blood was imperfect, he'd noticed, in the sessions he'd begun. Ritualistically, he bled out his own imperfect mind. Through his soft, inner arms and inner thighs. It made him feel so perfect, if only for a moment, to seize a quick rush of pain, and see the blood mix with water, and disappear into the drain. Then, he would realize that it was different blood – his was different than everyone's. Imperfect. Thicker. Darker.

So he would do it again, to drain the imperfection from his system.

He pulled on the shirt. It rode up a bit on his arms, and he knew it would, so he never drained within four and a half inches of his sleeves. He brushed on a thin layer of green makeup he'd attained from a friend, and evened the tone under his eyes to his cheeks.

He left.

:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d::b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d::b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d::b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d::b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d::b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:


	3. Chapter 3

I want a nachos... :/

:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:

Robin walked into the Tower, BeastBoy on his left, Cyborg on his right. They'd just majorly owned just about everyone in the Arcade, and had lost about $100 to the games.

BeastBoy and Cy yammered on, arguing about who won more games. Robin opened the door to the main living room, and ran to jump on the couch.

"Dibs on TV!" he shouted, flipping onto the couch, grinning widely.

"Dibs on remote!" Cyborg yelled, plucking it from the coffeetable, which was still littered with pizza crusts and boxes.

BeastBoy looked at them, and flopped down on the edge of the couch.

"Just pick something good," he mumbled, and yawned.

Cyborg flipped through the channels, and settled on That 70s Show.

The boys watched, bored.

Robin was laughing at Ashton Kutcher when he felt slender arms wrap around his neck. Then, there was a wetness on his neck, accompanied by a slight suckling sensation. He frowned.

"Go on you, go getcha some!" Cyborg said, punching his arm lightly.

"Uh.." Robin started, but Starfire plucked him from the couch.

"Yes..." She smiled at him coquettishly, "Come and get you some."

Robin blinked at her, a small frown on his face.

"Yeah," BeastBoy said. "Not in front of us, man."

Robin looked at him more closely, if only for a moment, and thought he saw a tinge of jealousy. Then, he was dragged away by his girlfriend.

:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:

Star giggled, and threw Robin onto his bed, gently. He looked at her, slightly confused.

"Star, why didn't we..." he started, and stopped when she dropped her top.

"Star..."

"Robin," she said, floating over him, "I know that there is a traditional meeting of lover's genitalia when they love one another very much and... I wish to have such a union with you."

She stroked his jean-clad thigh, and he swatted her hand away.

"Star... I...I love you, but...This seems...I can't," Robin said, fumbling for a reason.

Star's eyes opened widely. "Wha? Wh..Why not?"

"I...I, uh..." Robin thought fast, "I'm on my period."

"What? Period?" Star said, cocking her head.

"Uh... Yeah. Um, see, there's like this week for every guy, every uh, month, and uh, they can't have sex, see? Maybe next week," Robin said, praying that she hadn't read enough teen magazine's to know only girls had periods.

Star pulled her top back on.

"Well.. I guess.. It can wait. I mean, our love won't fade by tomorrow, will it?" the redhead laughed.

Robin hesitated. He hoped she didn't catch it. "Uh, no... No, of course not, why would it?"

The alien frowned, as she left the room.

The Boy Wonder sighed, and let his back hit the bed. His head fwooshed softly on the pillow.

_'Why don't I feel like I'm in love with her? I should be... she's the most wonderful girl a guy could have. Sure, she's an alien, but she's so perfect. I should be head over heels, thanking God, Buddha, Allah, the Dalai Lama, hell, the Pope for letting her be my girl. And I should have at least __some form of arousal from her being in here. I mean, she's so anatomically perfect, any man should be able to get it up after seeing those.. But..'_

Robin squirmed, uncomfortable with the thought that he wasn't in love with the only girl he'd ever crushed on. Well, besides Jessica Alba and Eva Longoria. It unsettled him to a great extent.

The perfect woman had no effect on him whatsoever.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to bb-is-the-cutest-ever and Rodnii for their reviews... 3

b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b

Demonic red lights blinked angrily throughout the tower, and loud, electronic screams signaled that an attack was underway in Jump City. Robin, who hadn't been sleeping well, anyways, was up, uniformed, and locating the crime scene within five alarm rings. By seven, he'd pinpointed the location and was tapping his foot impatiently. Screech ten, and Raven and Cyborg were out, ready to go. Around fourteen or fifteen, Starfire was floating, and by twenty, BeastBoy had finally arrived.

"Titans, go!"

b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b

"Ugh!" Raven grunted as she hit the ground, covered in thick purple goo. The violet-haired girl heard starbolts zing over her head, and saw Cyborg blast off a sonic boom through the monster's middle.

Robin flicked explosive disks at Plasmus as he sprinted towards the villain, swiftly dodging splurts of green and purple gunk. As the disks exploded, giant globs of toxic plasma trashed the area. BeastBoy had transformed into an elephant, and was soaking the monster with water. Soon as he was close enough, Robin threw a huge lash of non-explosive, smaller silver disks at Plasmus, and they lodged all over the monster. Cyborg aimed at the monster with his cannon hand, and used the other to reset the frequency, then fired electromagnetic waves at Plasmus.

A shock of electric energy shocked Plasmus, and the gooey monster fell to its knees, electricity shocking it into a paralysis, of sorts. Raven encased Plasmus with dark energy, and BeastBoy sprayed water atop the dark-magic barrier. Using freeze-disks, Robin froze the shell, and Plasmus was trapped, held to with electricity, and capped inside of a 'magic' and ice sphere.

Twenty minutes later, the shock put Plasmus to sleep, and he was humanoid again. The Titans felled the barriers, and exchanged high-fives while Plasmus' host body was reloaded into a full-time sleep cylinder.

"Those ElectroDisks work like a charm, Cy, good work," the Boy Wonder complimented his older teammate, patting Cyborg's back proudly.

"Aw, yeah, I couldn'ta done it without yo' agility, you squirrel, hoppin' in there and plantin' all the disks..."

"Good work, everyone," the leader said, facing the girls and BeastBoy.

"Star, distraction was nice... Raven, excellent casing. Soak job was good, BeastBoy," Robin rambled, stretching, "Now, we should head home. It's already three, and we scheduled a training session at six-"

Cyborg and BeastBoy groaned dramatically, falling over.

"...And, since you were aroused in the middle of the night, make that seven." Robin finished. He didn't like to delay practice, but in this case...

His proposition was still met with grumbles and mutters, albeit slightly cheerier ones. Like, 1/110th cheerier. At that very moment, there was a flash of white lightning, and a resounding crash from farther downtown.

"You...You have got to be kidding me..." Raven muttered grudgingly.

"What? Overload? But we got rid of his-" Cyborg sputtered, remembering how he'd crushed the villain's hard drive when it tried to steal his car.

The white flash appeared again, and a toaster flew past the Titans. A lot of other electronics began whirring by, smashing into one another. The white flash was growing, and it looked like a star, and soon enough..

"Titans, go!" Robin shouted heroically, springing into action, towards the light show.

b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b

The practice time had again been extended, begrudgingly, by Robin, and as soon as he said it, RedX had come from only God knew where, and they'd started fighting again.

'What in the name of Bruce Wayne is going on?' Robin thought, decking RedX a good one. Or so he thought, the holograph filtering around his fist. 'Plasmus, Overload, RedX... Not all in one night. Hell, not even in a week.'

Robin turned on his foot, towards a loud thunk-pah-crash. Starfire had been flung at a wall and landed in some trashcans, out cold, from the looks of it. The wall around her glowed with green specks, and there was a crater where she'd slammed into the building. RedX had mirrored a starshot back at her. The one she did with her eyes.. It was far more lethal than her starbolts, and had potential to knock her out, especially as exhausted as she was. Robin started for his girlfriend, concerned for his teammate. Cyborg shouted at Robin to look out, and suddenly, the black teen was in front of him.

Exactly what RedX had planned. The XMark he'd slung cut through the Plexiglas covering on Cyborg's circuitry, hacked it, and immediately shut his computers down. Cyborg's human strength, not enough to hold up the bulky softwares, fell, obsolete, to the ground. He apologized to Robin, looking ashamed.

"Azarath, Metrio-Mmph!" Raven had been halfway through her meditative spell when RedX had sealed her mouth shut with one of Robin's trademarks, the XClaim. Raven would struggle with it, but it was made special, and it wouldn't come off until the battle was far done. Then, a red gas shot from it, and Raven fell, shocked. Asleep. RedX, apparently, had modified his design. Just BeastBoy and Robin, now.

Robin looked for the sleek figure, not noticing the SladeBots that had been filming the battle. More accurately, the battles.

Suddenly, Robin felt a swift gust of air from behind, and swung around barely quickly enough to block RedX's blow – the real RedX.

"What are you doing, here?" Robin grunted, kicking his opponent in the ribs. He staggered backwards, and Robin took advantage, grabbing the sleek figure in a tight hold.

"Mmph! That's none of your business, Ratbin!"

RedX reversed the hold, and punched Robin squarely in the face. Robin felt his nose start to bleed, and tossed a left hook at his rival. Miss. The Boy Wonder took a rough right uppercut to the jaw, and bit his cheek. He tasted copper.

A loud screech resounded, and RedX pivoted on his foot, unsteadily. BeastBoy, now an eagle, tore a large gash in RedX's mask, and six long, painful, inch-deep gashes down the front of his uniform. Robin knocked RedX down, and pinned him.

"What's going on, RedX?" the black-haired boy growled, looking the other in the eyes. Or, where they would be under the mask.

Rather than RedX's voice, Robin heard Slade's.

"I'm watching, Robin."

Robin's head whipped around, because the voice hadn't come from the figure beneath him. Warm blood was seeping from the wounds of the fallen man under him. He looked back at RedX, and BeastBoy was suddenly next to him, quiet. At that moment, a red light blinked on RedX's suit, and a puff of red gas was shot into the boy's faces. They both stopped, wide-eyed, before they fell over, paralyzed.

RedX wriggled out from beneath Robin, wincing noticably at his damages.

"Mmgh.." the person grunted. "That stun gas..It'll wear off...It's..escape..method.." RedX uttered, and began to walk away, staggering slightly.

'Why did he explain that?' Robin wondered angrily, 'And what's going on? Slade's watching? I knew that..He's always watching.. But three villains in one night? Something... Is terribly wrong.'

BeastBoy stared at the stars, thinking. Not much else to do. His mouth felt frozen, like everything else. He saw the other Titans out of the corners of his eyes. He should feel proud – he'd lasted one of the longest of the fighting tonight. The freakish lot that it was... But.. He didn't. The green-haired guy felt he didn't do much tonight. Spray water. Give Cy or Robin a lift for an attack. Couple of scratches on RedX. Hell, RedX seemed to have forgotten the shapeshifter until he'd gashed up his pretty little uniform.

After an hour had passed, roughly, Robin's bones began to creak as he moved. BeastBoy still felt statue-esque. The Boy Wonder rose, stretching his taut muscles. BeastBoy let his gaze slide along his teammate, admiring the slim, slightly bulging muscles of his calves, thick, strong thighs. Probably enough power in one leg to give even Chuck Norris a good fight, he bet. He noted that Robin had a small pooch of muscle below his navel, and that his stomach dipped into a strong, well-developed chest. The slender frame twisted, and BeastBoy got a good look at the muscles as the fabric stretched with his twisting. As he saw his leader look down, he shut his eyes quickly and feigned sleep.

Starfire was stirring across the lot.

The sun was poking at the sky, turning it from black to gray. They'd been fighting for...well, over three hours. Starfire looked up, and stood, shakily. She floated, and held her head, wincing slightly. She paused, and, spotting Robin, flew to him and sighed, gently putting her hands on his shoulder.

Awkwardly more than not, he patted her on the back.

"Uh...Star, could you go take the XCl – that thing, I mean – off of Raven?" he said, and bent to loosen his back up. It crackled.

Starfire blinked, and complied quietly, and floated to Raven. She knelt on both knees, and sat on her feet. She placed Raven's head in her lap, and started removing the binding carefully. There were tears pricking her eyes. She wasn't sure why, but... She would ask Raven later.

Robin looked at BeastBoy, who had closed his eyes. The youngest on the team looked exhausted. The Boy Wonder knelt down, and looked closer. The foundation had been washed, sweated, and transformed off, because the nearly black crescents under his friend's eyes were painfully deep, and he wondered how he'd missed them earlier.

"Hey..Gar-Ah, BeastBoy, can you move?"

No response, just a quick intake of breath. Kid fell asleep, Robin presumed.

The dark-haired boy knelt next to his green friend, and grabbed his ankle. He pushed upwards firmly on the other's foot with the flat of his palm, stretching it. It popped healthily, and Robin released the pressure. He did the same for the other foot, and popped his friend's fingers, shoulders, and elbows. The torso was popped and stretched out, and Robin carefully popped and stretched out his teammates legs. After he did all this COₐ- releasing from Garf-er, BeastBoy's system, he massaged some of the major pressure points on his friend's body.

'Why am I going through all this trouble? If I could get up, so could..' Robin looked again at the young man's tired eyes. 'Well...Maybe I'm a bit hard on the kid. I guess he deserves an easy way out, this time.'

The changeling suddenly made a weird breath intake, kind of a fluttery, swooping breath, and rolled over on his side.

Robin grinned. 'Unparalyzed. I win..Now, Cy.." Robin stood, and walked over to his computerized friend. He pulled his own creation out of Cyborg's back, and took out his T. Communicator, which doubled as a reboot system for Cyborg. Since their fights with H.I.V.E...Well, Gizmo offered lots of inspiration, to say the least. Robin let the T. Comm work, and within minutes, Cyborg was fully operational, although achy and in need of a battery charge. The cyborg rose, and stretched. He told Robin he was going to get a cab, see them later.

When Robin turned around, BeastBoy was snoring, and Starfire was tossing the XClaim away, and picking up Raven.

"Robin?"

"Star, uh, Raven, she-"

"She's weak... I will take her back home. You will be riding your cycle motor?" Starfire asked, hovering nearby. She began to float off slowly, like a balloon on a hot day.

"Y...Yeah, Yeah, I'll just...I'll see you later," The teenager said, waving. Starfire smiled sweetly at him, before turning around and hurtling off with the cloaked medium. Robin turned back to BeastBoy, who was solidly asleep on the pavement, curled into a half fetal-position. He didn't feel a small grin work its way onto his chin as he sat down next to his friend.


	5. Chapter 5

Danananananannana....potato!

b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b

After thirty minutes had passed, Robin woke BeastBoy up, halfway, and asked him to switch to something small, so he could carry him home. Half asleep, the young changeling complied, and instantly, a sleeping spider monkey clung tightly to Robin's cape. He'd gotten home quickly on his cycle, and carried BeastBoy into his room.

He set the monkey down on the dark sheets of Garfield Logan's bed. It stirred at the sudden loss of warmth, and noting its surroundings, switched back into BeastBoy, and rolled over, to the wall. The boy grunted a tired, grateful thank-you before speedily becoming unconscious again. Robin didn't notice the small, spiderlike SladeBot recording him from a corner of the room. As the Boy Wonder left, the SladeBot skittered after him, watching his every move. Another SladeBot spider stayed in the changeling's room, lying dormant under the bed until its activity sensors were alerted.

b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b

Robin plunked down in his own bed, exhausted, grimy, and hot. He needed a shower, he needed some sleep, and most of all, he needed some answers.

Why were the Titans attacked by three separate, unlinked villains in one night? Consecutively, for that matter? Why was Slade watching so intently? How had Plasmus re-escaped? Who was RedX this time? Who recreated Overload? Why wasn't he attracted to Starfire? Why did it make him ill, nervous, and slightly guilty to look at her, talk to her, even? Why had he canceled drills for today? Why did everything seem to be landsliding at the moment?

Frankly, the young man didn't know, and right now, these thoughts in his head were going to drive him to complete madness if he didn't get some relief. He decided to take a nice, long, hot shower.

b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b:d:b

The silhouetted man tapped his fingers together slowly, contemplating new developments of the Teen Titans. He watched.


	6. Chapter 6

Well... My computer crashed, and... Let's not talk about that. *thinks of all her lost, lovely files...*

And then, I just didn't _feel_ like writing again, for like a month.

:/

Sorry, guise..

BeastBoy sighed, as he woke up in the darkness. He wondered why no one had come to get him for training, but then remembered the insane amount of fighting they had done. He stretched, and got up, going to the bathroom. The SladeBot that had hidden under his bed focused in on him, and scuttled to a spot on the ceiling, above the doorjamb. Almost every angle was visible from here, and no cloaking was necessary. It peeked into the cracked door. The changeling was nude, and it scuttled, very swiftly and quietly, into the bathroom, using a cloak to hide itself.

–

Slade watched the screens. Titans Tower was completely under his surveillance. All but the green one were asleep, so he opened the young man's file, and watched, and listened.

Soft breathing, then the shower water. He used a zoom function, and examined the boy from seven different frequencies. Interesting..

He almost gasped, but a despicably evil smirk crossed his face under the mask as he saw the wounds. Plasmus had no claws.. Overload didn't leave scratches, but electrical burns, and he'd watched the footage. RedX had gotten no shots at BeastBoy. These were older, too. The boy healed fast..

Self mutilation was a symbol of self depreciation and hatred.. Something that could easily be manipulated and made into something new and wonderful.. Slade grinned. Oh..This was wonderful.

He turned to the Boy Wonder's camera. The SladeBot had detected something in his room.

–

Robin had woken up, because he heard the water move in the pipes. He had forgotten to turn on the volume equalizers that would help him sleep. The exhausted teen stood, and got up, going to his computer. Once he woke up, it took too long to fall back asleep... Might as well work.

He logged onto his PC, and began compiling data into a networking program he'd built. He was trying to find reasons why what happened.. Had happened. On the side, he checked his networking sites, email, and tried to find something funny on YouTube.

Nothing seemed to make him smile, and he sighed.

The SladeBot, being much more advanced, recorded the brainwaves Robin let off. Depressive ones... Slade would be pleased. It refocused its cameras, zooming in on his face, to record more concise information. It also used a shortwave hacking signal to snoop into what Robin was doing on the computer. Slade, as a technological and strategic genius, was quite interested in Robin's personal life.

Suddenly, the brain waves picked up. The SladeBot flagged the sites and times as important as it relayed the information to the receptor Bot in the base of the tower, which was livestreaming to Slade's computer.

He was looking at the vacation pictures they'd taken last year. Really, it was about time for a break again, Robin thought vacantly, looking at the smiling Titans (save Raven.. But at least she wasn't frowning.) They had stayed with Bruce for a week. It had actually been really fun, staying there a week in February.. BeastBoy looked really happy in this one. He clicked through the pictures, and noted that he looked.. A lot happier a long time ago. Something was different.

Robin squinted, and noted certain things about Garfield's smiles and body language. "Hm," he thought to himself, and then clicked a much more recent photo. The body language.. The eyes, the hair, simply..Everything was different. He wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't seen the teen's eyes earlier, too, he doubted.

The SladeBot flagged almost this entire ten minutes, because of the erratic happy-unhappy brainwaves.

Robin sighed, and thought maybe it was time to ask Bruce if they could come out there, again.

–

I'm hungry...


	7. Chapter 7

Mm... I just ate dinner... A spaghetti sammich, broccoli, carrots, cut-up piece of hamburger, and a bowl of caneloupe, honeydew, and grapes..... And cake.. Mm, caaa~akke... With yummy light frosting and strawberries on top...

I'm hungry again..

–

BeastBoy sipped lazily at some cranberry juice, watching a rerun of... Something. He wasn't paying too much attention, really, and had zoned out, looking at the screen with an empty stare. Robin had walked in, quietly, and was standing at the other end of the couch, looking at his team member. He cocked his head to the side when BeastBoy didn't noticed him, and coughed to get his attention. Nothing. BeastBoy was a ball of energy, who jumped at any chance to make any joke, no matter the lameness. Surely... He would have told Robin not to choke on his ego, or..or...Or something.

"BeastBoy?"

It didn't register.

Robin frowned, and then walked away, to go upstairs and call Bruce. If even BeastBoy was that drained, the other Titans – who could facade their energy levels better, apparently – were probably just as exhausted. Robin frowned as he walked past the still-sleeping Cyborg's room. He heard Raven meditating, her soft voices floating from outside of her ro- wait, huh? Robin's brow creased, and he took a couple steps back, right next to Raven's room. Two voices, not one. And they weren't meditating, either.

'Star? And Raven? Talking?' he thought, leaning closer to the door. Alas, it was muffled to the point he could only hear muffled tones and changes in pitch. They were talking, like.. Having an actual, peaceful conversation? Robin couldn't sense the usual malicious annoyance in Raven's pitch, either. Just a slight, almost.. Motherly.. patience, calm and... This was a good thing, but.. Far from ordinary. The black-haired boy picked up the pace to his room.

He sat down, and frowned. A green-gloved hand hovered over the landline, and it started to ring as soon as he touched it. He jerked it from the cradle, to his ear.

"Titans West," he greeted, in a commanding voice.

"You're quick on the call," a quirky voice said, jokingly.

"Speedy," Robin practically sighed the name, "How are you? How are the others? Is everything alright?"

"Everything is just fine, Robin," the calm voice said, "East Titans is doing well. Crime is really slack, here, at the moment. Mas y Menos say hello."

"That's good," Robin cradled the phone in his shoulder, and opened another webpage. The Sladebot recorded the conversation.

"So, what did you need, bro?" Robin said, leaning back in his chair. He was curious; East Titans rarely called unless they needed help, wanted to get together, et cetera. He wanted to get straight to the point, so he could get to Bruce and set up some kind of vacation in Gotham.

"Well.. We need your help, man."

Robin frowned. This conversation might not end like he wanted it to.

"Ah, I see," he said, sitting up, "But I thought crime was on the decline, there?"

"Well, here, yeah. Things are good, really."

There was a pause.

"Then... Huh?"

"I can't talk about it on the phone, man, but we're gonna need at least two of your team for this, if you can."

Robin frowned. This didn't sound good...

"Can you guys fly out here, tonight? Just for an hour to discuss this," the fun, chirpy Speedy sounded older with solemnity.

"Who?"

"Uh, I don'- Hey- Aqualad, stop that! Aqu-"

"Hey!" the Atlantian yelled over the phone. Robin pulled the receiver away from his ear. The teen from Atlantis was... Not..Good with phones. "Bring BeastBoy! I found this cool place in-"

"Gimme the phone, you stup-"

"No!"

"Why I ought to.."

BANG!

CRUNCH!

There was a loud clattering and crashing, and Robin heard Bumblebee and Mas y Menos laughing in the background.

"Don't pull my – OWWW, STOOOP THAT HUURTTTS!!!"

"Then don't take the -AYE AYE AAAYYEE!!! THAT'S MY BOW ARM!"

Robin sighed, facepalming.

He heard the phone fall as the boys fought, then a couple clicks.

"Robin?" a sultry, sexy tone came on the line.

"Hey, Bumblebee," he sighed, relieved.

"Just you and BB tonight, will be fine, but I'd love to see Cy again," the girl said, almost dreamily.

"I can make up the spare rooms for all of you, though, if you want."

"Uh.." Robin thought.

"We'll all come out, to-"

"Ah, damn," Bumblebee said, "We only have four rooms. Will you mind sleeping on the couch?"

"Nah, it's cool," the Boy Wonder said, "We'll see you tonight, I'll go get Cy."

"Thanks, Robin," the girl said, and then there was a pause.

Robin heard Speedy and Aqualad's fight begin to dawdle off.

"What we need," she finally said, slowly, "Has to do with Ahriman."

Robin was silent.

Ahriman was like Slade, only... Different. He frowned, deeply.

Ahriman was different in that he was not like Slade; he was sloppier and less scheming for money than he focused on torment.

Unlike Slade, who wanted dominion and structured following, Ahriman wanted chaos and blood, confusion and despicable natures to be loosened.

The Titans thought they had been rid of him when they had faced off with him in Samfya, Zambia. He had run into the desolate forest in the 'protected area' of Lake Bangweulu, a hefty 'national park' with heavy forestry and a fascinating selection of wildlife. They had gone into the mess of jungle, but couldn't find the man.

Assumed dead, if only because the vast wetland was very unpopulous, and the 'way out' was so difficult after only a few meters that -

"Hey, Robin! Rooo~ooobin?"

"Huh?" The Boy Wonder had fazed out for a moment.

Bumblebee made a 'hrrumph!'-ng sound. "We'll see you tonight."

"K. See you later," Robin said, frowning as he thought.

Ahriman was almost as deadly as Slade, though not nearly as bothersome and tormenting. Slade wanted and needed Robin, Ahriman... He lived up to his name. "God of death and blackness."

He didn't care who he killed, how many... Any collateral was fine. Slade.. At least he didn't go on psychopathic rampage. Slade was calculated and cool and so much... Better, although it sickened Robin to think it as he rose. Both men were despicable, but only one was crazy.

He went to Cyborg's room and knocked.

"Cyborg," he called, tapping his foot impatiently, "The Titan Jet, is it-"

The door flew open, and suddenly, a hugely-grinning, half-robot man was in his face.

"YES."

"Okay...Uh.."

"Can I fly it?" the black man started dancing around. "Puh-leeasse?"

"Yeah..That's.."

Cyborg picked Robin up, nearly crushing him in a hug. "SWEEET, Where are we going, huh?"

"Only... to Titans.. East?" Robin said, trying to breathe, "Please..Can't.."

Cyborg tossed him down, and ran away to the hangar, laughing like a madman.

Robin went off to tell the rest of the team to get a one-night overnight bag.

–

Mm... I'm going to go get candy!


	8. Chapter 8

I had a candy, why not again tonight?

Mm, Reese's....

–

The two boys sat on opposite ends of the couch, fuming. Bumblebee stood behind the long, curved furniture, arms crossed and glaring. She had finally ended the fight, by yanking them apart and bopping them on the head. Hard. Cyborg had reported in, just a few minutes ago, and told her they were on the descent. She had opened up the hangar in the West Wing, and their companion team would be here, shortly.

"I expect you to act civil," she said, as her beeper blipped, telling her an aircraft had landed in the hangar. Speedy and Aqualad hopped up, eager to see their teammates. Bumblebee flitted to the hangar, almost as fast as Mas y Menos, who were beyond delighted to see Starfire.

Cyborg popped out of the jet quicker than lickety-split, and ran up to Bumblebee, picking her up off the ground as he hugged her.

"Missed you, 'Bee," he said quietly, giving her a peck on the cheek. She kissed him on the mouth as the other Titans converged.

"Missed you too, Cy," she said, grinning at the lipstick she'd left on his mouth.

Mas y Menos huddled around Starfire, and she clung to Robin's arm, almost wincing away. Robin pulled away from her, and to cover his action, grabbed Mas and gave him a noogie, and the young Guatemalan laughed, swatting at him. Menos grabbed one of Robin's arms, and they dragged him away from Star. They touched hands, and ran in circles, so fast that their images blurred together. When they let go, the Boy Wonder spun like a top for a few seconds, then fell over, into a can of paint. The twelve-year-old twins laughed evilly, but merrily, and ran back to Starfire, offering her refreshments and hugs and other things.

Aqualad immediately walked up to BeastBoy, who was standing next to Raven, and told him about 'this awesome cave about 20 miles out' that he just /had/ to see. Raven eyed the dark-haired Atlantian, admiring his sleekness. Speedy walked over to Robin, and helped him up.

"It's good to see you again, Robin," he said, his voice toned happy. "Sucks that it's under such draggin' circumstances, though. Mind if I chat with you in private? Mano y mano, leader to leader?"

Robin nodded. Speedy clapped his hands.

"'Aight, Titans! Converge in conference room in one hour! Bee, show 'em where they stay tonight.. And..Gah, PDA, none please.." The redhead turned around swiftly, leading Robin with him.

They walked out of the hangar, and through the building, to the young archer's room. Speedy let him in, and Robin sat down on the bed. Speedy grabbed his desk chair, and laptop, and sat across from his companion.

"Bumblebee told me it was about Ahriman," Robin said, getting straight to the point.

Speedy's eyes closed.

"Yeah," he said, frowning.

They sat in silence for a moment.

"We think," he said slowly, "That he is on Isla Isabella, hiding out."

Robins face scrunched up. "Uh, you mean in the Galapagos Islands?"

Speedy glared. "Do you question my intel?"

Robin shook his head. "They're mostly uninhabited, except for the Vestige that live there.

The Boy Wonder, having been a protege of the Justice League, was, of course, world-traveled. He knew a lot of people in a lot of places.. Which was helpful. Speedy had the same intel, naturally, but his means were a little... Less orthodox, and more forced.

"Well, I've word he's there," the fiery-headed boy said, "And they don't liiike 'outsiders'," the boy sneered, humphing.

Robin frowned. "No, they don't, I've been there," he said, point-blank.

"I know," Speedy drawled, slightly annoyed, "But here's the thing: if he IS setting something up there and he IS doing whatever the hell he's doing, then they're in DANGER and once he has even MORE resources, MORE people are-"

"I'm not an idiot," Robin cut him off with a swift hand motion. "What needs to be done?"

"Well, I got into contact with Kysmar-"

"You contacted Kysmar?"

"Uh, yeah -"

"Dude, don't tell me you caught him first?"

"...Yes...?"

Robin sighed. Speedy was smart, but the Kid Flash should have told him this.. You never contact the head of state without.. Ugh.

"Anyhow.." Speedy continued, "I bargained with him, and he said we can have 2 members there, investigating for however long they need.

Robin frowned. "Only two?"

"And..They...can only be from Titans West.."

Robin facepalmed. "You'd be a terrible businessman.." he groaned.

Speedy smacked him, hard.

"Shut up! I got us this far!" he growled, then put the laptop to the side. He thought he'd have to refresh Robin's memory, but obviously, he didn't.

"We need to decide who's going, and who's monitoring from here."

"Yeah," Robin said, his brow creasing.

He couldn't bring Star. He knew that would go bad. Really bad. Cy.. Wouldn't be able to function out there. The Vestige... They didn't have electricity, so the half-robot would need about 7 zillion batteries, which was just too much to bother with. BeastBoy would be at home in the jungle of the Galapagos, and he'd get a kick out of the scenery. Plus.. He had been born in the tropics, and he loved that kind of weather. Raven, she would be a fantastic choice. She was smart, sustainable, and could take care of herself. But.. The company would be... Well, talking to rocks would be easier.

Speedy stood.

"Telling the others?" The Boy Wonder asked absently.

"Yeah," he said.

–

And now, it's bedtime! :D


	9. Chapter 9

I think I've decided something, but you guise will never guess what, fwahaha.

C:

Also, I had a delicious, flaky, soft, croissant, with hot, greasy bacon and a folded, steaming egg with two delectable slices of cheese... Accompanied by a scaldingly delectable caramel latte..

.. I love food.

–

BeastBoy sighed into the pillow. Outside of the room, Robin heard him sigh, and frowned. Ever since that night, where three impossible villains attacked back to back, he had noticed more and more of the depressive symptoms his teammate was exhibiting. As the leader of a crime-fighting team, Robin felt terrible for not noticing earlier. He was obligated to take care of his team, and he had failed. So, he made sure the others were okay, too.

Starfire.. Was starting to act a little different, and Raven seemed to spend at least a little more time with her. Nothing major or worrisome; the working relationship was relieving, honestly. Cyborg seemed really happy, especially talking to Bee as much as he did. The youngest member of the team.. The black-haired boy was honestly worried about the 16-year old changeling. He knocked on the door, almost hesitantly. He guessed the best way to improve moral was to talk. Or..That's what..Seventeen told him...

BeastBoy perked up, and ran a hand through his hair as he slid out of bed, and opened the door.

"Robin?" he asked, "Dude, it's bedtime – no booty calls!" He flashed Robin a toothy grin.

"Uh, not a... I just wanted to talk with you for a moment," Robin said, suddenly flustered. He hadn't realized how... Nice the young man looked. The blue-black-and-yellow plaid sleep pants and long-sleeved matching top brought out his eccentric coloring, but in a good way. The taller boy found himself absently thinking, 'Cute.'

"Yo, dude, I know I'm smokin' hot, but only for the ladies," Gar said, poking the Boy Wonder in the chest.

"Hm? I'm tired," Robin said, losing his smooth for a moment.

"Well, come on in and get your chatting done! I gotta sleep... Beauty, you know?" BeastBoy said, winking. He ran, and jumped on the bed, grinning widely.

Robin, for a moment, doubted his decision. Maybe there wasn't anything wrong.

"Ah, I," the older boy stumbled. Now that he felt.. Awkward to bring up what he'd wanted to, especially since Gar- eh, BB, was acting so cheery, "I wanted to know if you wanted to go to Isabella with me." Gah! He'd wanted to bring Raven, if only because she was easy (and quick) to work with. Shitshitshit, and now he couldn't take it back..

The boy solemned quickly. "Really?" he asked, his eyes big.

Robin nodded, composure regained externally.

"Yup. I figure it'd be good to have an animal expert, since the area is teeming with so much wildlife, and the locals had mentioned your family when I went there with Bruce," he said, pulling out everything he had. Of course, that had been years ago, Gar probably didn't remember his birthplace, which was Isla Fernindanda, the island adjacent to Isla Isabella. "Plus, gotta have some good, humorous company, you know?"

BeastBoy immediately tackled his leader, hugging him fiercely. He didn't freak out with words, or scream or squeal, he just squeezed the other tightly. Robin patted his head, kind of awkwardly.

'His hair feels nice,' he thought, liking the rough-ish texture of it. It was like.. soft, but naturally spiky and stiff. The other boy was warm, too. Robin flushed lightly the slimmer figure released him, and thought he might have seen a tear in his friend's eye.

"Thanks," BeastBoy said, his voice a little rough now.

"There are lots of birds there," Robin said.

"Yeah!" BeastBoy said, and the 18-year old was almost amazed at the immediate mood change. The.. It had to be a mask. There's.. That's... Now, Robin was confused. He vacantly wondered if BB was bipolar..

"Well, uh, I'll see you in the morning, 'kay?" Robin said, unsure of what to say next.

"Yeah!" BeastBoy said, and followed Robin to the door. Before it closed, Robin looked at his face. He had been right; the happy look was dissipated almost completely as the door closed.

– – –

Slade listened in on the conversations that were held in Titan's East, although some parts broke out. He didn't imagine he'd need to use longwave transmission, so he'd skimped on that part of the SladeBot tech. However, he'd have the recordings once the Titans returned to Jump City in the morning, before their depart to the Galapagos.

–

I'm thinkin' tacos for lunch. :D


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks for the reviews. Even though I see people on the "traffic" graph, reviews make me smile harder, like... Rock candy. Mm.. Rock candy is good.. The crystallized kind is the best. But once, I bought this bag of 'rocks'. They looked like real rocks! Until you bit through them.. Mm.. Chocolate..

I'm hungry..

–

Raven stood at the top of the tower, looking out at Jump City Bay. She hadn't been surprised at Robin's choice seven hours earlier, this morning. As the oldest, most knowledgeable, smartest.. And really, most perceptive, Titan, she had seen at least a month ago the discomfort the Boy Wonder expressed towards his girlfriend. She looked at the sun, hanging lazily at a 45 degree angle over the horizon. It reflected in her eyes, and the dark violet orbs looked like amethysts as they brightened by octaves. The wind blew, and her cape rippled against her legs. Behind her, she heard the roof-access door open, and wasn't surprised when she saw Starfire, looking glum.

"Hello, friend Raven!" the Tamaranian said, dully, and her boots tapped softly as she landed next to the dark-looking girl.

"Hi, Star," the purple-haired girl said, looking away from the watery expanse. "Are the others on their way? I figured you'd be helping Robin with his things."

"He's only bringing a backpack's worth of belongings," the redhead replied, "They'll be up in about five minutes."

"You sound very happy," Raven said flatly.

Starfire looked at Raven, her face shocked. Then, she started laughing. Pale lips curved into a smile at the laughter.

"Friend Raven? Making jokes? The world is certainly becoming strange!" came a more upbeat comment, as the laughter faded. Raven didn't say anything, but looked out over the bay.

Titans East's sleek, black-and-red jet was sitting atop the landing strip. Below, in the hangar, Cyborg's T-Jet sat, being cleaned and doted on. They had come back this noon. It had been decided that, since the island Robin and BeastBoy were being sent to was low-populated, there was a need for a plane that could land in the water, instead of on a landing strip. Cyborg's baby, however, didn't fit that criteria, so Speedy and Aqualad were going to see the two off.

All the Titans were here, right now, including friends from H.I.V.E.. Robin and BeastBoy were going into uncharted territory, filled with wild animals and tribespeople. Because Ahriman was a tricky fellow, and they actually were searching over one of the bigger islands in the Galapagos, they'd be gone for at least a month. Fortunately, they'd be in contact better than they originally thought.

Gizmo had launched a.. Not...too terribly legal satellite in order to get the networking available, but that was okay – it had cut the mission time down a lot, and with Speedy's infosources, this might only be a week-long thing.

Especially since Raven had looked through his thoughts last night, and the other place Ahriman was suspected to be was in Kruegersdorp, South Africa. And an Ecuadorian village. And in a Persian country. And in Kyoto. And in about 1700 other places.

The young archer was to Ahriman as Robin was to Slade, to put it understandably. Because he'd had so much trouble with the natives in the Islas Galapagos was the primary reason he'd sent their teammates, but his resource net was accurate. His emotions weren't. Raven hadn't said anything, because there was a 'chance' Ahriman was there, but to her, it seemed too unlikely. A glint in her eye twinkled as she thought of the peacefulness that not having BeastBoy around would yield.

People started filtering onto the roof from downstairs. Soon, the entire roof was full of laughing teens, holding soda cans and small going away tokens. Raven noted Robin had a duffel bag and a backpack. She was certain he'd pre-packed the camping gear just so he could tell Star he didn't need her help right now. The black-haired boy set his stuff next to the jet, and BeastBoy followed suit with his.. Four duffel bags and backpack.

Gizmo was showing Robin something on a little device that looked like the T-Comm.. Raven listened in. Starfire floated towards him, and Raven walked over to BeastBoy and Aqualad.

"...And if you guys need to contact anyone, you can doing this, and th-"

"It's pretty small," Robin admired, "Is there a clip on it, or something?"

"Yeah, yeah," Gizmo said, showing him the smooth back of it, "It's built to be on you. I made it outdoors-proof, and your T-Comm can home in on it for a one mile radius if you lose it, dork."

"And it just sticks to the T-Comm, so that shouldn't be a problem."

Robin nodded, appreciatively. Gizmo, if he sold his ideas, would probably be the next Bill Gates, with all of his special add-ons and whosits and whatsits. This was a fantastic piece of technology. This mission would take no time, the Boy Wonder was certain, and then he'd call Bruce and get some kind of vacation set up for his team.

After many goodbyes and hugs and handshakes were traded, Aqualad and Speedy got into the ET-Jet. BeastBoy bumped knuckles with Cyborg, and Starfire zoomed up to Robin, pressing her lips to his. He glanced out of the corner of his eye, a look of discomfort written across his face. Raven held back a wide smirk when she saw it, and BeastBoy barely caught the end of it. The green teen blinked.

'He looks uncomfortable doing that,' BeastBoy thought, and in his mind, a dark, almost-black green version of him cackled. The dark piece of his mind was reveling in the fact that Starfire would be unhappy, and laughing at her. His guilt picked up moments later, and out of awkwardness, he looked away and bounded onto the plane.

"Yo! Aqualad! How long's this gonna take?" he said loudly, and Raven heard the Atlantian tell the changeling to shut up, sit down, and be quiet – it was a long fly from anywhere in New York to South America, plus they had to stop in Mexico City to refuel. He better have brought a handheld game. She thought she'd like this break, suddenly more.

Disengaging himself from the alien, almost forcefully, the tights-clad young man hurried over to Raven, and handed her the keys and stuff. She would be in charge while he was gone. She patted him on the shoulder, and he grinned, evilly. Her eyes widened, and she barely was able to say, "No," before it happened.

She was holding the keys in one hand, and her arm was at his shoulder, leaving her soft, fleshy middle totally unguarded. He pushed forward, and wrapped his arms around her torso, squeezing, hard.

"Thank you RAVEN~." He said, very forcefully, and then released her, bounding off to the jet.

Even if it is cliché... If looks could kill, that boy would be ten years dead. He better be damn glad he was gone for at least a week.

Raven stalked off, fuming, and Starfire almost laughed, bitterly. He had hugged her fiercely, why not.. Why not Starfire? What was special about Raven? And why had he picked BeastBoy to go away with him instead of her!? She felt something green and dark and evil-feeling poking at the back of her mind.

BeastBoy's face appeared at the door of the jet, and waved fiercely as it closed. She felt an emotion she could only describe as.. as.. mud and green as she saw his face. She waved, though, smiling, and when she could not see his face anymore, she felt devastatingly older.

–

Slade sighed, rubbing his temple. Three screens on his display were dark, and two showed the interior of East Titans' jet. The others were being ignored, and would be neglected. His main focus was gone from the tower. The transponders would have to be modified, from such a distance.. He'd have to go through a lot of trouble to keep tabs on Robin and the little green one. He should have tried to modify Speedy's intel to where he could have kept an eye more easily on the boys! Luckily, Slade knew exactly where Ahriman was, and although he would go through this trouble to keep them on a goose chase..

Slade smiled. His plot would be more devious than that, and for a truly deviously wonderful thing, you had to know a lot about what you wanted, and how you were going to get it. And for it to be fun, you just had to damage them along the way, and cause misery.

–

Dinner time!! :D


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks for the reviews~!

Whenever I see a message in my email inbox, I go.. Fleeeeep! Yaaay~.

C: So, I just ate this killer delicious parfait, with strawberries and blueberries in it… beyond yomness.. And then some AMAZING granola on top. Omfg, I love this…Utopia of good food I live in, hehehe.

Anyways, it's time for me to… Make words. Then lunch!! :D

--

BeastBoy looked out of the plane, at the night sky. They had landed in Monterrey, Mexico, because someone had decided NOT to refuel, and they didn't have enough fuel to get to El Capital. He looked at the darkness, thinking. So far, it hadn't been a bad night, he guessed. Boring, since his DS ran out of power… Right as he beat the Elite Four, too… Ugh. His PSP was in the back, and he considered getting it, but didn't feel like getting up. He didn't feel like much of anything, as he stared out into the darkness of the landing strip, dotted with guide-lights. He could feel it, welling under his skin.

This imperfection. This bad blood, bubbling in his veins in thick, blackish, revoltingness. It bothered him. It bothered him a lot, and he was becoming almost fitful with the physical pain it caused him. He needed to get rid of this torment; it was driving him mad knowing that such a terrible liquid coursed through him. Gave him life. He shuddered, biting his lip as he thought and craved the drainage of imperfection. Maybe he could go to the restroom.

Robin glanced furtively at the young man next to him. Although a patient young man, he was getting a bit weary for the travelling. He could tell Aqualad really needed a swim, and that Speedy needed a nice, long run. They'd be so envious later, in the early eve of morning, as they dropped them off in the bay of Isla Fernandina. He stretched, and his bones crackled loudly. Aqualad rolled over in the bunk behind him, snoring loudly.

The night prior, Aqualad had stayed up all night, so he could sleep until Speedy wanted to switch out. That was supposed to be in Mexico City, but Cyborg had forgotten to tip off their fuel, so… They'd switch over in about an hour, when they passed over the Honduras. Then, it was just a couple hours until they reached the islands. Robin leaned his chair back, about to take a nap.

Unfortunately, the back seats in the jet were combined, because Mas y Menos were the usual inhabitants of the seat. They didn't like to be very far apart, and.. Thump!

The chairs smashed together with the force of two 12-year old boys' shabby, but effective, modification. Robin winced and cried out, as did BeastBoy, as their shoulders smacked together and their temples collided.

"Ow! Dude, I know we're friends, but this is moving too fast for me!" BeastBoy growled, rubbing his head and glaring out of the corner of his eye.

Robin didn't say anything, but massaged his sore shoulder. Damn twins.. There'd be a mark there in the morning. "Didn't know," he said, looking out the window, "Sorry." The black haired man rolled onto his side, towards the window in the reclined chair.

BeastBoy rolled the other way, looking into the shadows of behind the chair. He tried to remember what he was thinking about, before it came back, stronger. His leader had been so short with him, no other words than, "Didn't know, sorry." That bothered him some. Usually, he would have said more words… Maybe, the changeling thought, the imperfection did show on the outside. Maybe everyone could see. He saw a lot. He thought back to earlier today, when he had seen Robin and Starfire… That brief, uncomfortable look. He remembered the… Rush of pleasure, he guessed, that he got when he saw it. And he realized; not only was he ugly outside, but jealousy was making him ugly inside.

He remembered the other night, when Robin came into his room, and admiring the nice, flushed look on his cheeks, when he'd caught him off-guard. He remembered looking up at him after the fight with Red-X, and the almost hungry, sliding, gaze he'd given the other. He remembered always being jealous of Robin's courage, looks, smarts, suaveness, kindness, abilities..And.. It all hit him at once, as Speedy lifted off the ground again, and the changeling felt sick to his stomach, enough so that he might become ill.

Not only was he imperfect, not only was he ugly and dark and coarse and genuinely defective in every possible manner… No, that wasn't enough for God. Not enough that he drained out some of this disgusting self every month, maybe every 2 weeks in a good time. Not enough that he just hated being alive every waking moment. Not enough that the absurdities in life presented him caused him to be so.. Hateful and despicable and.. Not only everything. Because now, on top of it all, he was gay.

It felt like someone was taking a bike pump and squeezing as much air as they could behind his eyes and nose, and the top of his throat burned with soreness as the tear ducts inflated and inflamed, and saline trembled with tension at the lids of his eyes. He could feel his sharp mouth pulling down into a strong frown, and felt a few warm beads flow across the bridge of his nose into the other eye, and making him squint. The chair's headrest was a little wet with salty water.

Great. He was a crybaby, too.

Those thoughts just contributed to his pain, and he could feel the pricks and stabs of discomfort in his belly and in his chest. His head throbbed, and his entire face hurt, as he held back the majority of the tears.

What a terribly dysfunctional, imperfect being he was.

--

Robin stared at the side of the jet.

He didn't love Starfire, and it bothered him. Because, when the day came that they finally kissed, and started dating.. He was certain he would love her, no questions asked, and they would grow up and get married and make freaky hybrid Tamaranian-person babies (but they would be normal, because that's the way his luck was), and grow old together, and live in a nice house with a picket fence and fight crime when they weren't raising their kids.

But, things don't always work out, apparently. Because now, he didn't even want to be close to her. He just wanted to sit back, and laugh as That 70's show played on TV, with the guys, and explain the jokes to her as the show went on. Nothing more; just that close bond of friendship.

Also, Slade. It bothered him that he still hadn't figured out what the man was up to, lately. There had been a few outbreaks of crime, but nothing that had Slade written on it. At least, that's what he thought. Slade had been awfully dormant lately… Maybe even too dormant. And it was bugging the Boy Wonder. Hopefully.. He could take his mind off of this while he was here.

He'd talked to Raven when they'd touched down in Monterrey, and she had told him what she had seen and heard, earlier. Robin wasn't surprised, honestly, that Speedy was sending him down here like this. It was the same thing he'd have done if he'd gotten a snippet of information on Slade's whereabouts or identity.

The black-haired boy frowned deeply, thinking. BeastBoy… This issue was also on his mind. The young man seemed troubled, and Robin had done a little poking to see what was wrong. Of course, the attempts to poke had been very effectively countered with jokes, or light coming-ons that confused Robin pretty severely. Was the changeling being serious or not when he flirted with him? The masked boy glared at the wall. If he was serious, and Robin was just brushing him off, that might make this depression worse. If he was kidding and Robin acted on it… Well, that would.. Be uncool, to say the very least.

The problem didn't end, there, though, oh no.

He had come to realized he kind of liked the kid. Teen. Man. Changeling. He'd thought about it the other night, and it kind of just smacked him in the face. It was not good, the diagnosis. He had mentally listed all the things he liked about the boy, and they were damn similar to a list he'd made about Eva Longoria as a younger man. Bad. Very bad. Then, he compared it to a list he'd made about Starfire. Even worse.

Why? Because the list he'd compiled about his male teammate had far outweighed that of the two women he had once been 'madly and passionately in love with'. And now, he'd be with him for at least a week. Alone. On a tropical island. He laughed bitterly in his mind. It was something he would love to do, of course, but… God, the awkwardness. The hormonal, primitive half of himself. The… The emotional half that would say something stupid when he didn't want to, the part of himself that stumbled over words because it was distracted by cute plaid pajamas, the half of his mind that would just… Kick him in the face at the end of the day.

Speedy turned on autopilot, yawning, and went to wake up Aqualad.

Three more hours until dropoff.

--

….;_; I kind of b'awwed a little writing that BB part.. . I want to hug him… :c

Reviews = love, ja?

IT'S LUNCHTIME HOOOOORAAYYYY!!!! =D


	12. Chapter 12

The charger to my laptop broke! :C I should be getting a new one this week though… Thank you, ! :D

Mm… This weekend was great. I had spicy Kung-Pao chicken with white, steamed rice… College rules so hard! Chinese food rules HARDERRRRR. And reviewers… you rock even *harder*. Thanks especially to Rodnii, Life-Line, and . for the multiple reviews! Watchers, you guys are awesome, too. *loves on*

Um… I'm hungry.. When I finish this chapter, I'm walking back to my dorm and eating left-over Kung Pao and fried vegetable rice… Mmmm…

No owny Teen Titans, ja, it's Marvel's and stuff, eh? *dances off*

--

Aqualad sure knew how to land a plane, if anything. None of the sleeping boys felt anything as the plane glided into the water, and gently swelled to a pause. The tide rippled on the island shore because of the disturbance, and the black-haired Atlantian could see, very clearly with his exceptional vision, an old man's silhouette, standing as still as a rock on the beachline. He cut the motor, and stood. His bones popped as he stretched, and he grabbed his phone, checking the texts. The black-haired teen turned, his mouth open as he prepared to shout, "WAKE UP, YOU LAZY BUMS!" at the top of his lungs, mostly for his own amusement.

His own, evil little personality stopped at the glorious, wonderful, fantastic blackmail material before him, and he turned on the camera of his phone. A slim, black-gloved finger flicked on a dim overlight switch, and the image came into clear view. He snapped a photo, cackling evilly in his mind. Ooo, this was _so_ going on FaceBook, at the very, very least.

He tiptoed over to Robin and BeastBoy, who were hugging each other in their sleep. Oh, this was grand… He snapped another photo. A new Facebook album was underway!

He stood back, a wide, catlike smile on his face. It was kind of cute, really. BeastBoy was cuddled into Robin's chest, his head on the older one's collarbone. Robin's arm was slung over the smaller teen's shoulder, and his face was buried in green hair.

Aqualad thought, quickly. What is the best way…To ruin a Kodak moment? He settled for the bullhorn that was tucked above the cockpit for "emergency purposes only".

--

Half an hour later, Speedy waved energetically from the cockpit of the jet, and Aqualad lay unconscious in the back, phone snapped in two. Also, a large, throbbing bump was apparent on the front of his forehead. The attractive young man would not be able to get a date for at least a week.

Robin sighed, and picked up some of their things. They'd set up camp elsewhere, but first, they'd have to lug this to the village… He sighed, and started walking. He hadn't said much to BeastBoy this morning, due to the awkward way they had woken up. Tangled with each other, they'd fallen onto the floor of the jet, and Robin felt like he had crushed Garf- eh, BeastBoy. Damned if he could get that cute name out of his head, too… He pulled another bag from the pile.

BeastBoy was silent, too, stewing in his own thoughts.

Before they reached the edge of the bay, they saw the man that Aqualad had seen earlier. Robin grinned, setting down the bags. He jogged up to the old man, and bowed, greeting him respectfully. BeastBoy walked, but greeted the elderly fellow in the same way. The old man bowed back, his bones creaking audibly.

BeastBoy looked at the ancient, dark-skinned man wonderingly as Robin talked with him in a strange language. He had once been light-skinned, that much he could tell. The leathery, sun-tanned skin was wrinkled beyond years, from scowls and smiles and hard work in the sun. The man was dressed in a dark, maroon cloth that looked like a dress. If he'd known the language, he'd have made some kind of joke about it. The green teen admired the headpiece the native wore, and all of his beads and shells and necklaces. When he smiled, there were only four teeth, but the smile was warm. He smelled like aloe and tobacco. Beads were strung in the man's long, stringy black hair, and vacantly, BeastBoy wondered how loud the man clicked when he toddled along.

Robin grinned at BeastBoy. "This is Mishma, an elder of the Vestige," he explained, a little of the strange accent still on his tongue. It gave his voice an exotic flavor, BeastBoy thought, and then mentally kicked himself for it. "He brought a cart to carry our equipment. He wants us to visit the village for two nights, to bless our voyage and stuff. Is that cool?"

BeastBoy grinned. "Yeah, man, bring on the blessings!" he said, laughing. "A cart is nice, too.." Green eyes wandered to the… Rather large pile of things.

A couple of tall, Amazonian-tall men with dark brownish skin came into view, as the tall grasses were pushed aside. The boys shared a high-five, immediately relieved they didn't have to make multiple trips inland. They loaded up the cart, and helped push it to the village.

--

Well.. It's about to be bedtime… I hope you liked this short chapter, though! C: I'll try to get another new one in this week.

Now..to go get some rice… Mm…


	13. Chapter 13

Writing in the computer lab again… O, woe is me, without my poor laptop charger! I cannot nom and write at the same time… A travesty, I tell you! A travesty! At least I had a made-to-order BLT croissant earlier… With a banana and a bottle of water.. Mm, that was a good lunch..

Teen Titans aren't mine, blah blah blah, I'm hungry..

--

BeastBoy didn't say anything when they walked into the village, and neither did Robin. It was cool, yeah, like something out of one of those movies. The green-skinned boy was sure he could hear tribal drums and flutes playing in the background, swooping and dancing with the swaying of the river reeds that were visible a few hundred yards off.

Naturally, the village had been built next to water. The huts were advanced, not like mud houses or tepees, but made of mud-brick and enforced with the dark heartwood of the local trees. This was only noted because a new building was being made, one that looked to have two floors. BeastBoy's eyebrows rose a little when he noticed that some of the mud-houses did have two floors. He didn't know that could be done. There were even blocks on some of the doors; it looked like people weren't home. Locks'n'Blocks, he mused.

The men laid the cart to rest in front of a big, round hut in the center of the town. When the cart handles thudded on the dust, it clouded up in a thin powder. The old man led the boys into the giant hut, but the two tall helper-men left, and before the door, weaved from thick fibers of a yucca-like plant, shut, he saw one of them grab the bowl off a woman's head, playfully. She laughed, and tried to get it back, but he picked her up, too, and then, it was dark. BeastBoy's head whipped around.

The old man lit what might have been a primitive candle, and led them into a big room, where the roof had been cut out and replaced with the thin film of a giant leaf. The room was bright, and glowed in a warm, amber-gold. He talked to Robin again in the weird language. A woman came out, with a wooden tray that had hand-carved wooden cups on it. It was full of a steaming, purple liquid. Robin took one when it was offered, and said something in the weird language, then bent at the waist to her. BeastBoy followed suit, save talking in the weird language. But God, did he want to poke fun about this.

He figured he shouldn't, though, because these people were letting outsiders into their world, if only for a bit, and they were helping them… Even if it didn't seem like it. BeastBoy frowned internally. He doubted that all this prayer mumbo jumbo would really help, but… Robin seemed to tolerate it, and the boy guessed that the first step of getting somewhere you wanted to be was stepping in the footsteps of someone who was.

The priest took a cup, bowed to the woman, and drank the stuff. Hesitantly, so did the young superheroes.

And so begun the ritual of luck.

--

"Shuh!" BeastBoy exorted, flopping onto the bed he'd forged from sleeping bags, pillows, and the straw-pat that had been provided by the Vestige. He felt sick to his stomach, and had been, ever since yesterday. The bad blood in his system had only felt antagonized by the cleansing, harmonious ritual that had been given. He felt even dirtier having taken the good will of an innocent people.

"That's exhausting…"

Robin laid across the room, on a similar straw-pat, with only his sleeping bag. "These are a rigorous people," he said, obviously tired, "But, it's kind of them, and we can finally set out tomorrow."

"That's good."

There was an awkward silence. It grated against the boys' nerves like aluminum between the teeth.

"Do you think Miasma would mind if I left most of that junk here? I mean, you know, so it will be easier on us to travel," BeastBoy offered, thinking of the useless electronics he'd meant to leave on the T-Jet.

"Nah," Robin said, not scolding the teen for getting the elder's name wrong, "I actually was going to mention that. They went through our things and compacted our gear… All the "bikna shi"- useless things - Were put in a storage house on the side of town. So… Not too big a deal."

BeastBoy snuggled into his blanket, and moonlight filtered through the leaf-wax that served as a window. "Aight," he said, yawning, "Sounds good to me."

Robin was silent, and turned over in the sleeping pad. There was another awkward silence. Robin broke the tension by wishing the younger man a good rest, and the silence wasn't so unbearable then. BeastBoy returned the good will, and then waited silently, until he heard the soft, even breathing of his team's leader as he slept. The changeling felt like puking, because he felt black and grey all over.

Silently, he morphed into a small bird, and struggled out from under the covers. He'd waited long enough to get rid of his impurity. It gave him a headache to think about it, and so he needed to purge this illness from his system, desperately. He flew soundlessly across the room, and switched to a fly, so he could get through the dried-grass that covered the doorway silently. He exited the house, and flew upwards, a great condor, into the sky, then towards the river.

He changed back into a human, his feet thudding quietly on the soft ground as he landed. He found a sharp rock in the river, and fled into the bushes to do his work. He didn't want to taint the water.

--

Hm.. This just didn't seem like enough. Still kind of hungry, but…


	14. Chapter 14

… I think I should wait a liiiiittttle longer.

::tummy grumbles::

::smacks tummy::

3

--

Robin woke up, yawning to the point that his jaw popped. He scratched his head and stomach, yawning again. The first rays of sunlight were filtering through the waxy cuticle over the window. With sleep-ridden eyes, he glanced at Garf- Damn! BeastBoy's – bunking. The younger man was still asleep, and Robin couldn't hear the footsteps of the house-hold. Feeling safe, he peeled off his mask, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with slender hands. As soon as he was done, though, the mask went right back on.

He got up, and went outside to run around the perimeter of the village before the others were up.

--

"Hf, hf, hf," the Boy Wonder panted, grinning at the little boy next to him. Many of the children were already awake in the village, as well as all of the adults. The women had already left to the fields, and the men were discussing something, Robin had heard something about hunting, though. The little boy had challenged him to a race, and although he'd already run around the village several times, he accepted. He made it seem like a close run, but lost in the end.

"Kabni jimjim," he told the boy. Good game. He ruffled the kid's hair, then trotted back to the hut he'd stayed in the night before. The old man lived here, with his wife. A few grandchildren played on the floor, because their parents were out to work. The others were running about outside, before they would be made to check the water for their family, as well as collect close-by berries and other things. The elderly woman sat in what was the backyard, with a fire crackling. A stone pot held some of the morning's breakfast. The man had gone to the temple to pray, and BeastBoy was sleeping. Robin thought he'd wake him up, and pushed aside the dried leaves.

The other was dressed and had packed up both of the sleeping bags. He was wearing one of the black bodysuits he usually wore on missions and stuff.

Robin, on the other hand, donned jeans and a white cotton tee-shirt.

"It's going to be hot today, you know," the black-haired boy said, shocking BeastBoy from a dazed daydream.

"Oh, yeah. This is actually really comfortable," the changeling said, standing. "When are we heading out?"

Robin looked at the already-folded sleeping bags. "Probably soon. We'll just have our backpacks and stuff, for convenience. They re-packed our bags," Robin said, smiling some. "They're actually expecting us back at night. The island is small enough that we should be able to cover to the other side with a day's worth of fast hiking."

BeastBoy frowned. Robin did, too. "We'll have to be more thorough than that," they both said, at the same time. A light laughter filled the room, and Robin was pleased that the younger man was laughing – and it even seemed genuine.

"Yeah. Luckily, I know this island pretty well. Bruce has brought me here more than once," Robin commented, picking up his sleeping bag.

BeastBoy didn't say he knew or figured that, but picked up his things and walked outside, too.

They'd eat a healthy breakfast of stewed inland mutant potatoes with sugarcane and fruit, as well as pieces of a strange bird that didn't have an English name, and then start walking.

--

That's better, I guess. More later, food now. :P


	15. Chapter 15

Mmm... So, I just ate lunch. Delectable, creamy chicken salad with a crisp piece of fresh lettuce, and a nice, red, juicy tomato, tucked neatly inside a flaky croissant, with a tangy, sharp bottle of cranberry juice.

-drool-

So...yummy.... Hungry...again...

=) I don't own Teen Titans, but I own the yummyness sitting in my belly. And boy was it yummy.

–

"Hnf!" BeastBoy's voice strained as he pushed the log. He could hear Robin's throat grumbling. He transformed into a T-Rex, and tossed it aside. He brushed himself off as he returned to being a human.

That had been troublesome, for a moment. A large tree had fallen, blocking their path. Luckily, the changeling was able to take care of such things. Still, it was getting close to dark, and they couldn't go back to the village. The elder who had greeted them had told them that was because of the "Mikkna Teito" - the "night walker." Robin frowned, as they walked into a clearing. He hadn't wanted to leave, anyhow. If they returned to the village every night, their search would be hasty and incomplete. So, he'd taken the tent that had been set in the pile of useless things, and some camping gear. Each boy had carried some along with their own belongings, and this clear patch would be good for setting up camp.

"Jimjim Mikkna Teito bikna shi."

The Night Walker played his things useless game. Played with his food, Robin remembered the Batman telling him. That was why it preyed on things in the trees. The clearing was too open. A closed environment let the creature play hide-and seek with its food, so to speak.

That's why the frown turned straight, and he almost smiled. It was a clearing, even though it was a small one. And there was water nearby – both the black-haired boy and green teen could hear it. The Boy Wonder was aware that the creature could not swim, simply from legend.

"We'll set up camp here," he said, looking into the fading sunlight, "And continue in the morning. Can you grab firewood while I set up the tent?"

BeastBoy didn't say anything, but set down his backpack and nodded, shifting into a large gorilla. He pounded back into the thick forest, and Robin heard him smashing huge, dead logs. Robin set his pack down next to his teammate's, and pulled out the tent. Within half an hour, the sun was still twinkling a dying twilight, and the boys were set up. Robin struck a match, and lit a small fire. They cooked over it, tightly packed bird meat and nuts BeastBoy had picked up on the way through the forest. There was some meal and potatoes inside a sealed wrap, as well as a pack of nuts and berries, and three fresh fruits that the natives had packed them. They would be well off for days: besides this, Robin knew the poisonous plants in the area, and BeastBoy could harvest information from the animals in the area, if it came to that.

The teenage heroes sat in silence, chewing and watching the fire burn. The warmth felt good on their skin, despite being hot all day. Cold set into the earth quickly, and there would be a healthy, strong dew in the morning that chilled you sick.

Robin popped a red berry into his mouth and chewed, thoughtfully. Better to keep his mouth shut. He pulled out the T-Comm, and considered calling home. He decided that Raven was probably still... Slightly angry at him for his stunt, and that Starfire wouldn't really be the best to talk to. That left a 33.3% chance that the one person who would be nice to him would pick up. He opted to call Speedy, instead.

He poked at it, and a tripod came down. He moved it to where it wouldn't get hot, and waited as it connected to Gizmo's satellite.

"Good looking today," BeastBoy commented, looking into the sky. He'd put away the extra berries away, and eaten some of the meal packed by the natives. He didn't eat the meat.

"Yeah," Robin said, looking at the sky. "Didn't find anything, really, but it's nice out here."

BeastBoy nodded, eying his leader from an inconspicuous angle. He felt less dirtiness doing that today, because he'd cleaned himself very well last night. But, he still felt the wrongness in the back of his mind for it.

He had admitted it to himself – he liked the other boy. He rationalized it. Robin was, in essence, perfect. The Boy Wonder had a sleek, strong body that was well-proportioned and strong. His hair didn't stick up too much and it looked soft instead of bristly. He wasn't green. He had straight teeth that weren't too pointy. His voice wasn't nasally. He was fast and durable. Ladies swooned over him – but he went for 'the best'. He had a very popular and openly-desired girlfriend that was, by modern means, the cream of the crop. He was smart. He was honorable. He was nice. Kids looked up to him, and so did adults. The entire team – even East Titans – looked up to him. He was respectable. Robin was all of this and more, reflected the green eyes, and a feeling that was pink had caressed his mind and made it right.

This was just a person, in reality, but one of BeastBoy's inner selves had conditioned and softened his mind, and he accidentally all of his emotions. Of course. Another thing – Robin seemed to be able to control himself well.

At first, the changeling had felt an olive greenness towards the leader – a dark, sweltering jealousy that made him feel like crusted calcium on a faucet. But that had gotten lighter and lighter, and the colors of his mind swayed like a fluttering sea of ribbons, reflecting all colors of the rainbow in his mind. It had flown from green to blue to grey to yellow, and now it was a pink feeling – almost magenta. Because beneath this almost innocent, although intense, liking and admiring, there was a lust.

And this magenta feeling – that was the only way the boy felt he could describe it – was a lovelust, and he thought that maybe he was gay.

Because he'd purified himself the night before, all of these thoughts were clear again, and the horrific mental pain he'd experienced yesterday was mostly gone. Green eyes closed, absorbing the fiery heat.

Robin began his call.

–

A SladeBot skittered from the pile of bikna shi – useless things – and out of the storage hut. The other Bots were transmitting a signal, and it took off, whizzing in the night, to get to its targets.

–

The other two SladeBots had strategically placed themselves in the camping area. One was perched in the tent, in a dark corner, waiting. This one also transmitted the homing signal to the third Bot, and sent Transmission Copies of Robin's conversation with Speedy to one of Slade's satellites. The other was near the campfire, recording the boy's brainwaves, body readings, and information about their interpersonal relationship through recording and well-programmed technology. It compacted the files and radioed them to the Bot in the tent, which sent the data to Slade.

–

Tap, tap, tap, tap. Long, slim fingers, hidden inside thick leather gloves, watched the incoming data. Oh, this was too good... Slade smiled under the mask, and flipped through a notebook. His notes. Taken in an alien language that was undecipherable to many, safe. He'd recorded Robin for years, and although he could pull up video data at any point, he'd found that it was more than a little effective to write things down. And oh, the things he had written down _lately_. Oh the _things_ he would be able to _do_ now. It excited him, and he knew that Robin would not be able to resist his new plans, once they were finished. But first, he would wait.

Waiting was good.

–

Ooh, did I tell you about my breakf-

/shot

I'm going to.. find something to do for the next two hours of my student work. T_T


	16. Chapter 16

Mmm.... My tuna croissant was delicious. And then I had a Cracker Jack snack, and some mini-doughnuts, too! :D

Hm hm hm!

Sorry for the delay!

See previous chapters for disclaimer, too lazy.

–

"Alright! Thanks, Speedy," Robin said, jotting something down. BeastBoy stared at the sky with the eyes of a hawk. He always saw the stars better like this. He heard Robin taking notes... Apparently, Speedy had given him a more precise location. Neither of the teens knew Speedy's source, but trusted him, nonetheless.

"Alright, say it! Come on, you fish, you!" the green hawk's head moved, looking at the communicator. Bee?

"I don't wanna!" a loud, whiny voice cried, and some crashes permeated the peaceful clearing. The hawk hopped over to the small screen, and Robin saw a glint of laughter in the bird's eyes. The Boy Wonder had a small crescent of a smile on his face, too, as he watched the hardcore, tough black girl on screen manhandle the Atlantian onto the screen. He saw her glaring, his long hair wrapped in her fist. The pretty boy, a lump still on his head, was whining at her to let him go.

BeastBoy switched back to his human nature, and bit back a loud laugh.

"Say it, or I'll cut it all off," the woman behind him said, menacingly. BeastBoy thought he could hear the snipping of scissors, and apparently, so did the Atlantian.

"I'MSORRYI'MSORRYI'MSORRYOHGODDON'TDOITBEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

That sent the teens into gales of laughter, and Aqualad's crying face was pushed offscreen. Bee replaced him.

She gave them a wink. "Cute pictures... He managed to get them off the sim card," she said. "I got rid of them, though."

"Thanks, Bumblebee," they said, solemnly. She had done them a great favor... Laughter was not in order. Besides... She'd probably poke fun at them, and a quick glance between them kept it quiet. Potential laughter boiled in their stomachs, though, and they were both inwardly wondering who was the man between her and Cyborg.

"Well, I'll let you go," she said, looking away as a sound rang on her side, "Pizza's here. Good luck, guys."

And with that, she was gone. The screen went blue, asking Robin what he wanted to do next. They laughed and joked about Aqualad, as Robin put the things away. They didn't mention the pictures, or anything of the sort. Eventually, a tension built up. The fire started dying.

"Uh, we'll get going pretty early," the black-haired boy said, trying to make conversation after an awkward silence.

"Yeah."

Another awkward silence. BeastBoy broke this one.

"Well... I think I'll hit the sack," he said, standing and stretching, with an exaggerated yawn.

"'Kay. Sleep well. We have another long day ahead of us in the morning.," Robin said, poking the dying embers with a stick. They picked up again, a bit, anyways. His jeans and tee were dirty, and he'd switch into a tee in a few minutes when he went to sleep. Didn't want to dirty his sleeping bag.

A green hand slid the tent flap open, silently, and he stepped inside. Today had been pleasant, he mused. Better than most... Maybe getting away from it all had been good for him. Well, most of it.

As he stripped off the dirtied body suit, he thought about how much cleaner he simply felt from all this pure, untouched environment. A part of him, in the back of his mind, felt bad for absorbing the good vibes, but... The other part felt good about it. He felt fresher, and less dirty and hideous. He had looked in a puddle earlier and not felt completely revolted.

But then, as he was reaching for his backpack, he paused, the dark, thick, aberrations on his skin stood out starkly. He felt a slight upheaving in his stomach, and it churned. Green eyes squinted shut, and he felt for his pajamas blindly. He didn't want to look at that. He felt grey again, the brief, pale blue fingers of relief dropping him back into a melancholy drabness. The glimmer of hope dissipated, and he realized that no, he didn't feel better. It was just a fleeting white thought – a gash of white wasn't uncommon when you were in grey, but soon, the blackness would be there. The painter just didn't mix this little section enough.

He curled up under the sleeping bag, eyes still shut. He felt a warmth on his face, and shuddered, bile bubbling at the back of his throat threateningly. A deep, shaky breath helped some. Then another, and another, and another... Eventually, they evened out, and soon after, he fell asleep.

Outside, Robin sat, sleepless. The light from the fire was nothing but a hot, red glow. It had died to embers. He was thinking about what Speedy had told him, every few moments, but his mind kept drifting to the teammate inside the tent. He sighed, and cradled his head in his hands.

Dew was starting to set. He could feel moisture settling on his bent neck. The issue... Although wrong and awkward, would have to wait. Nothing bad had happened so far, right? Robin's head brewed with unorthodox thoughts. It can wait, at least until something does go wrong. It's not that important. Not that big a deal. I can handle this.

All these thoughts, unprepared, impromptu, and simply the easiest, laziest way were weird for Robin, but outside of this, he couldn't really think of much to do about this feeling he had in his ribs. It had been a lot easier with Starfire. At least he knew she liked him back. Also, it wasn't exactly... Taboo for a guy and a girl to mate – regardless that she was an alien. What would the public think? It wasn't a question he liked to ask, or even think about... He had his entire team to worry for, though. Plus, Starfire was... Starfire was simple. She was smart, sure, but she was simple. Very easy to figure out, very easy to read, very easy to talk to (even if she didn't always understand)... The whole nine yards. Garfield... He hid how he felt, and Robin was certain of it. He was hard to figure out, because he was serious and not serious.. And you couldn't really tell the difference all the time. The young man was easy to talk to, but it wasn't really easy to get info out of him. He joked too much to give you a straight answer. But lately, he just wasn't talking at all..

The frown on Robin's face deepened. He had taken to calling the younger teen Garfield in his mind. Gar when he used it more than once. The Boy Wonder really liked that name. He couldn't explain why, but... He'd just given up on trying to stop calling him that. He'd just have to be careful not to actually call BeastBoy that when they talked.

The embers had faded, and Robin's shirt was uncomfortably damp. He decided it was time for rest.

–

Dudududu~.

Pizzatime!


	17. Chapter 17

So, I came home for the week of spring break and my birthday. And my computer found it high time to crash again, so... Better malware protection! Hopefully, that was the last time. Got it back up and running, though.

Since I am at home... I have to cook and stuff, so my delectable meal stories may be... lacking. For breakfast today, I had a cold piece of french toast with a little syrup and a Reese's candy heart. T_T I miss..my daily..croissant..

Dun own Teen Titans or anything, blahblah waffles...

–

Sometimes, when talk to myself, I tell myself a story. Some people would think it's weird but.. I don't know. It makes things feel like... Like it's not me, I guess. It's someone else, telling me about what they're going through. I can give them advice and help them. It's kind of a self-help mechanism, now that I think about it.

I settled down next to him, in the darkness. A square of blackness where the rain - tarp covered was outlined by a slightly netted area of stars, then the outside was cut off again from the opaque outside of the tent. Our stuff was next to me, and our sleeping bags touched. I felt close to him, in that we were next to each other. I felt so far away, because I didn't know him anymore.

I rolled to the side, pressing my back against the smaller boy, taking some of his warmth. I guess I didn't realize how cold it was outside. He was cold, probably. From here, past our things, I saw droplets of moisture forming on the inside of the tent. It would be cool to the touch, and unpleasant if you got more than a little on you. I scooted away from his warm, closer to our packs. If natural instinct kicked in, he'd move with me. Drawn to the heat, I guess. It was an embarrassing lesson that Bruce helped me learn, with a loud smack and a "GET ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TENT."

Easy for me to say, he is not a pleasant man when sleeping. I guess it's because of what goes on in his mind. He's been through a lot.. I bet his dreams are terrible. I hope he has dreamless nights, from what I know about him... A dreamless sleep would be a bliss, to be truthful.

I heard the rustle before I felt the movement of Garfield squirming in his sleeping bag, and I felt his body against mine, and I heard my pulse increase. Didn't feel it, but heard it – that weird, almost rushing sound in my ears. I rolled over, because we were kind of like, spooning, and I just didn't want to wake up like that. I didn't want him to feel... Gah, like I did.

I know he's hurting, I can see it in that tired face. I think that waking up like that would hurt him more. I don't know why, it's a gut thing.

I like the way the moonlight hits his face, and the way his eyelashes glimmer in the soft light. His hair looks bristly, but I know it's pleasant to the touch. The dark creases I saw earlier in the month – they're gone, kind of. Faded. That makes me feel better. He's thinner than when I first met him. His face is longer, and the jaw is more defined. His nose twitches, and he yawns. His teeth are almost perfectly naturally straight. They look like mine, except the incisors look sharper, and bigger. His nose is long and straight, but curved, because the bridge is small.

I sigh, and watch him sleep.

I did it before I knew I did, if that makes sense. My hand was in my view, but I didn't feel it come out from under the bag. I probably shouldn't.. His skin is soft to the touch, even though he's been sweating all day. It's not oily, either. I ran a thumb over his eyebrow, and the hairs line up under my finger. His cheek is warm under my hand. I should definitely stop. I run my fingers over the bone structure underneath the oddly-toned skin. I can feel the bump on his cheekbone where he got his head crushed against the concrete. Another where he broke his nose in a fistfight at the arcade. There's a small bruising on his temple where we fell in the plane. I don't even bother trying to stop myself as I ran a thumb over his lips. They're a little chapped.

Whenever I see anything dry, I lick my lips and swallow. That's what I did now, except it felt like I was on fire, and that I was doing something wrong. My throat burned, and I swallowed. My face felt hot, and when I kissed the sleeping teen next to me, it felt like I thought it would the 'first' time. Even though he wasn't awake, I felt... I don't even know. I can try to explain it.

It was soft and shy and I pulled away as soon as I did it, and his lips looked shinier now. A pink tip poked out, and he licked his lips. I pulled away.

I really shouldn't have done that to him. I really really really shouldn't have done that.

He scooched closer to me, and I couldn't move back any more. My back was pressed into the backpack. I squeezed my eyes shut, and tried to sleep.

–

My little sister is going to cook dinner!!!! Ever since I went to college, she learned more..cooking stuff. :D She's making baked chicken with seasoning on top, Mrs. Dash and lemon pepper and basil and stuff! I AM SO EXCITED. And she's making green beans and mashed potatoes and toast! SHE IS SUCH AN AWESOME 10-YEAR OLD.


	18. Chapter 18

Duuuuuude, my sister's dinner owned me in the face. She makes awesome mashed atatoes, they weren't runny, but nice and thick, buttery and perfectly salted... With a side of lightly seasoned green beans and succulent, juicy chicken seasoned with lemon pepper and cumin and thyme and a little paprika, with a piece of buttered bread and a glass of milk... Ah, being home totally owns... She said she's making tuna casserole tomorrow!!! :D

TT isn't mine and...Lalala~

–

BeastBoy frowned in his sleep, grumbling uncomfortably as a drop of condensation fell on his face and rolled into his eyes. He wiped at it, startled when his arm wouldn't lift without some extra work. He blinked the water away, almost shocked at the mask directly in front of him. Robin was asleep, that much he could tell, and the gasp the green child had let out a moment ago hadn't waken him. Dawn hadn't completely arrived, but her warm, rosy fingers prodded at the sky. He didn't jiggle the arm over his elbow, but laid there.

The changeling closed his eyes, and simply... Enjoyed it. It felt like... He was wanted. So he laid there. He felt very pink right then, a light, airy pink, like the very top of the rainbow, when it was next to a cloud.

–

"Alright," Robin said, "Nothing here, either." A lightly calloused, slim but strong hand crossed off another latitude-longitude from the list.

A green bird swooped down from the trees, and BeastBoy landed on the ground. "The frigatesbirds here haven't seen anything here that's out of the ordinary. They keep a wide range of territory, so... We'll have about 50 meters' leeway of radius to work with."

Then, besides the chirping of birds and the padding, crunching footsteps they took, there were no noises. Both could simply tell there was something on the other's mind, and that it weighed on them heavily. But, that awareness was pushed aside into their own selfish minds, and they concerned themselves with themselves.

Robin held a branch up, and passed under it. He held it up for BeastBoy. He was thinking about what he'd done last night. Guh, stupid! At least his friend didn't know. What was he thinking? In retrospect that was just... Eugh. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt about it. It had been a very... Loose moment. He'd have to strengthen up. Train harder. He figured it was also kinda creepy.. But he had- THUMP!

The branch left a red mark, and he grabbed his stinging cheek with one hand, and held it to the side with another.

"Sorry, dude, thought you'd come through," BeastBoy said, readjusting his backpack.

Robin didn't say much back, just shook his head and mumbled, not looking his teammate in the eye.

BeastBoy squirmed in his mind. The pink feeling had burnt off in the sun, and now he felt like... Brown. That might be because they were in the woods, and being all... woodsy, granted, but he knew there was something under that. Robin wouldn't talk to him, but the high he'd had earlier... Well, the gray wisped at the edges of his toes, but there was a pale yellow above him, and he was grabbing wildly at the edges of the good color, and doing rather well. Like Robin, BeastBoy was trying to deal with his inner negativity. It wasn't bad today, though, and he cheered up when he saw a bright blue lizard. He bent to pick it up.

Maybe things weren't as bad as they seemed, he mused,as the reptile weaved around his fingers, nipping at the roughened tips.

"There's another clearing in about seven kilometers," Robin said, reading something from the T-Comm. "We can look in the area as we go."

"Thanks, Admiral Obvious," BeastBoy said, cracking his first joke in a while.

Robin looked at him, not quite smiling. "I'm demoted to admiral?"

"Well, your work has been slacking lately in... Obvious-thing-stating."

Aaand he was beyond rusty. Good joke telling, it seemed, needed to be used daily.

Robin laughed anyways.

BeastBoy grinned, and they trekked on.

–

Eh, meh. Everyone kept...coming into my house... And...Watching TV and... Playing the bother game with me

I think I will got eat a flan now. :/


	19. Chapter 19

Derp~. So, you know how a lot of people are blind nowadays? I am, without corrective lenses, legally blind. 3 Well, when I came home from college for the week, I only brought my contacts. And then I got pink eye! D: So, I had to throw my right contact away and I'm bliiind in one eeyyyeee :c

Andand... I had a hot dog for lunch.. With some ketchup.. And.. Now I'm eating some mixed nuts.

They're pretty good! :sips at sweet, cold Coca Cola: Mm.. Life.. is good. Even if I can't see half of it, hehehe.

3!

–

Shlup!

"Dahck!" Robin cried out, flailing his arms out in front of him. One jean-clad leg was sprawled behind him, and the other was mid-thigh deep in the mud. They were closer to the clearing, but there was a water inlet nearby, and because of the overflooding that happened "kimshina" - roughly last week, ish – the ground around the river had basically turned to swampland.

BeastBoy helped him up, and they tossed heavy rocks onto the ground before stepping on it. The clearing was just beyond the small stretch of swampland, according to their map.

--

The mechanism whirred lightly as it closed itself up. BeastBoy had just finished reporting, and the moon hung high in the sky. The fire was dying, and Robin had left a few minutes ago. In lieu of Robin's... Earlier accident, he'd valiantly offered to make the transmission for the night.

"Gonna go clean up, be back in a bit." After the mudbath he'd taken earlier, he needed a good cleaning-up.

He probably should have gone with him, just for carefulness. That night walker story or whatever. It was night, and there was a pretty good stretch of trees between the clearing and the place where the Boy Wonder had gone. The changeling put the bag in the tent, and grabbed his sleep shirt and new boxers and jeans. He started jogging for the pool they'd found earlier. The river that had overflowed had a nearby inlet, where high-above ground had plateaued off abruptly. The water flowed from the sea, inland, and then the dropoff made a waterfall, before the river continued.

BB pushed the gigantic leaf of a local fauna aside, the bristles on it tickling his face as it brushed his cheek. He didn't see Robin, and let himself admire the beauty of the hidden wonder. These islands were virtually untouched, and you couldn't find unmarketed beauty like this anymore. The waterfall wasn't loud from this distance, but he could see the sparkling water, and the soft crashing (which was much louder in just a few feet) was a soothing, constant melody in a song of humming insects and singing birds. The waterfall was at least forty feet, with a five, six foot berth, BeastBoy thought, and the water looked glassy. He stepped closer, careful not to trod heavily on the delicate tendrils of new vines that grew over old ones. He dropped his clothes on the ground. Still no Robin in sight.

There were fish in the water, he could see that, now, as his toes dug into rich, blackish soil. It rendered into sandy soil, in about a foot. There was a light 'splup' as a fish lipped at the surface, and ducked back under.

The sand was different than the soil, and warm, as heat from the day left the earth. Maybe Robin had gone back to the tent. BeastBoy didn't even see his teammates clothes anywhere. Green eyes scanned the area, suspiciously, before he looked at the water. It looked like perfect glass, save a few dancing ripples every so often. He didn't feel any dangerous animals here. He couldn't sense his teammate, either. He'd probably gone back to camp.

BeastBoy dug his fingernail into the neck of his uniform, and peeled it away from his sweaty skin. He felt sticky. This would be a far-welcomed relief.

He kept his eyes sharp on the area as he pulled the uniform off of his body. It was dragged through the top layer of the water, then tossed up onto a branch, nearly straight up from where he stood. In nothing but a pair of plaid boxers, he stepped into the water. It was cool, but pleasantly so. There were probably heat spots near the middle, where the water hadn't lost all the heat from the weather. He felt a crustacean.. Something like a crawdad, maybe, scuttle over his foot, and minnows danced around his feet. He went deeper into the water, relaxing more as he felt fish dart away from him. Algae broke away at his touch, and he felt pondgrass at his feet as he waded into water that was waist-deep.

"Ah...," came the refreshed sigh, as the water lapped at the newer gashes on his torso. He touched one that hadn't submerged. The skin around the scabbed-over wound was hotter than the rest of him by a few degrees. He leaned forward, and swam, enjoying the way the water felt, and the startled, curious fish that occasionally swam under him.

–

Robin lodged his foot into the crevice, and reached up again. Yes! He felt the top of the cliff, and the waterfall was loud in his ears, and his left side was more than a little slick with water. Using strong arms, he pulled himself up, and swung himself over the ledge.

"Hf, hf, hf," he breathed, hands on his knees. The climb was strenuous, and his muscles burned. But oh, it was worth it. After a survey of the pool, he had dubbed it plenty deep enough for selfish, indulging pleasures. He stared down over the edge. There was.. a log or something, near the middle of the pool. Hm. Hadn't seen anything there earlier.

'Alright,' he thought, 'It's not close enough to do anything, and I climbed all the way up, so..'

He walked to the bank, the water rushing fast enough to make him fall if he stepped into it. He followed it, tracing his feet in circles to check for vines and sharp rocks that would cut his bare feet. Nada. He looked up, at the stars. This place was amazing. It had been a while since he'd seen the stars. Been a while since he'd gone swimming, or climbed fifty feet in the air without a rope around his waist. Been a while since he'd been camping, since he'd had home-cooked food, since he just kind of... relaxed, he supposed. Even though this was a mission.. It was like a vacation. There was no sign of what's-his-douche, and Raven said she doubted there even was.

With a big grin, he bounded towards the edge of the cliff, and jumped.

–

"YAAAAAAHHHH-HOOOOOO~!!!!!!"

BeastBoy flailed suddenly, at the noise, and the fish around him sped away as he righted himself, alert and looking for the noise.

SPLASH!

He heard the out-of place crash maybe five feet from where he was swimming, and swam towards it. He felt water bubbling near him, and saw a lot where the.. Yahoo-er had entered the water. The sound of the waterfall was loud enough that he couldn't hear much else, now.

Then, it grabbed him.

Green hands turned to fins in a second, and the tailfin of the gigantic catfish slid through the 'attacker's' hands. It swam away, then a marlin took place of the catfish, and swam under the attacker. Robin kicked, laughing and spluttering when he got above the surface. He moved into a laying-down position, and backstroked away from the pounding column of water. BeastBoy, seeing Robin through the marlin's eyes, ceased his attack.

–

Sorry for my lateness!!!

I started this chapter when half blind and just...could not do it. So, I had to wait until I got back to college.. And my glasses! *pushes glasses up on nose* They're too big.

Anyways, time for chemistry!

Adieu!


	20. Chapter 2019pt2

I have decided that Physical Geography is simply not worth the attention, and to read fanfiction in this Tuesday-Thursday class, heh. And during student work, too! And you know what? I found it to be more fulfilling this way. 3

Ahem.

I guess I should tell you about my delay, but later.

So, for lunch today I – Wait, I'm getting the feeling this is like, my personal...lunch diary, now. Oh well. =3= I had steamed rice and cake, anyways. Nothing special, but oh so very delicious. And there are the untold wonders of dinner I am yet to discover..

Also!

Thank you all so much for the great reviews. They're extremely helpful!

–

Robin looked around, moving his head only a little. He was certain the log had been Beast Boy, since it had changed in his hands. Now, to find him. The Boy Wonder felt awesome after free-falling fifty-some feet, diving into a perfect-temperature, natural pool. He hadn't felt this... Passionate, he supposed, since the last time he worked for Slade. But this passion wasn't malicious – it was delicious. He felt good – really good – from that huge adrenal rush. Maybe giddy was the name for this bubbling, free sensation. A smile crept onto his face, and stuck, as he continued looking around. Finally, he saw a round head of matted-down, wet hair, and a pair of green eyes. He waggled his fingers at his teammate.

"Did I scare you?" he teased, lightly.

Beast Boy glared at him, but only softly. "No."

Robin turned in the water, kicking underneath his body and swaying his arms to stay afloat. He gave the green boy a quirky look. "You suure?"

Beast Boy splashed at him, playfully. "Yeah!" Robin splashed back, fanning his arm out to make a big, but slow, splash-wave. The changeling morphed into a dolphin. With a loud, 'thwack-sh!', a big splash nearly got Robin in the face, but he dove under the water. Beast Boy returned to a human state, and yanked up his loose shorts. He looked around for his teammate, laughing eyes glinting in the moonlight. Suddenly, a hand wrapped halfway around his calf, near the knee, and yanked him under. He yelped in surprise, but didn't change forms this time. Before he went under, he sucked in a half-lungful of air.

He loosened up, and let Robin drag him deeper into the water, with held breath. Due to extensive self-training, he could hold his breath practically as long as David Blaine. Robin pulled him down, grabbing his shoulders until they were face to face. Robin might've had his eyes shut, but Beast Boy could keep his eyes open underwater, without any problems. He stared at his leader, and almost lost his partially held-breath at the face.

Robin's eyes were squinted, and he could probably kind of see in the water. But, his cheeks were puffed up – like a squirrel with a full mouth. His chin was only a tiny stub, and Beast Boy's face lit up in a huge grin. Some bubbles escaped from his mouth, but he'd still be good for another minute or three. Robin had huge, round cheeks full of air, and his eyes were squinted into slits. When he noticed the red tinge on the other boy's cheeks, Beast Boy wished he had a camera. There would never be a funnier face made by the usually tight-lipped leader.

For a few moments, the green boy patiently stared at his puffy-faced leader. The Boy Wonder could not take it, and swam to the surface, bubbles blubbing and trailing out in large quantities. Beast Boy followed, swimming almost lazily in the water. It felt warm now.

As Robin gasped for breath, Beast Boy chuckled, and a fish darted by. They had been moving slowly for only a few moments, and the fish felt safe enough already to start swimming around them again. Very obviously, it was a low-trafficked area.

"Phew!" Robin exclaimed, after a few lungfuls of air. 'Didn't know Gar could hold his breath so long!'

"How long can you hold your breath, Beast Boy?" Might as well find out. He used his hand to cut through the water and turn, feet kicking under him. They were near the middle, and the waterfall roared heavily in their ears. Robin swam closer to the shore, where Beast Boy was already headed.

"Dunno, six or seven minutes, sometimes eight with a good breath." Robin's eyebrows went up, impressed. He could hold his for maybe four, on a good, deep breath. With no prior activity. At all. BeastBoy was about five strokes ahead, and the black-haired boy paused his strokes for a moment, watching the younger one. He hadn't realize BeastBoy was in such good shape.

Such soft skin, he recalled, and watched a slim, strong arm rise from the water. Eagle-sharp eyes noted the discoloration, even in the darkness and wetness. Even though he hadn't...seen.. The boy in quite a while in a tee shirt or..anything like that, he knew for fact that in his human form, Beast Boy did not have stripes. Of any kind. Nor was the hair on his arms thick enough for such a strong discoloration.

He started swimming again picking up the pace. Robin had the memory of an elephant, and quickly, his brain pulled up as many images and memories as possible, trying to refute the thought that Gar didn't have stripes. It couldn't. All the memories had the same picture – a clean, unmarred sheet of green skin. Stripeless.

Robin watched his friend carefully, trying to see the stripes again. There! - Just for a moment. He was certain of it now. Maybe Beast Boy's powers had changed? The stripes could mean he was sick, perhaps? Maybe it was a rash, from being outside. Robin had some cream antidote for the plants of the island, some homemade from the natives, and some from the mainland, tucked in small vials in his backpack.

Beast Boy stopped, close enough to the bank that he could stand on a slippery, algae-and-pondgrass covered stone near the edge. Robin stood on it, and his pale, white shoulders began to dry above the water. With a cock-eyed stare, he asked Beast Boy why he'd stopped.

"Eh," Beast Boy fumbled. He couldn't get out of the water here. Suddenly, a blackish-brown glump burst through his pale yellow feelings, and spattered everywhere. He couldn't let Robin see his ritualistic markings. That would be more than slightly shameful. "I'm gonna swim around some and stuff."

Robin's pleasant mood dimmed. Just a few moments ago, the teenager had been laughing and smiling and whatnot. Now he seemed dull and lackluster and depressed.

"Hey now," Robin said, taking a tone he'd heard Bruce use tons of times when he was younger. When he'd get depressed about his parents. "C'mon, you were happy just a minute ago. Let's go back to camp and eat some of those sweet berries you found earlier."

"Nah," Beast Boy said. He couldn't think of what to say next.

Robin reached out for the changeling, but the other boy didn't see him coming under the water. BeastBoy winced at his touch, even though it wasn't strong. Instinctively, he flinched away, and Robin's fingers clamped down, out of pure reaction, around the forearm.

"Hey!" BeastBoy exclaimed, trying to work his way out of his leader's grasp, too frantic to change forms. Unlike during a fight, his privacy was at stake. The possibility of his personal life being invaded panicked his mind, and the psychotic self-loathing side of him went crazy with fear. Irrationality took hold, and he just kind of swatted and flailed at the taller man.

Robin, surprised by the sudden, huge jump in defense almost made him let go, but he didn't. Because Bruce told him once about something, like how when someone who has full capability to get away and can't... Well, there's something wrong. If you let it go, they might never confront it, and that could be dangerous – for you and them. He remembered that small speech had taken place after Alfred's son died.

So he held on, and when BeastBoy realized he wasn't going to let go, he yanked away, hard. Robin simply went with the yank, and used an almost childish 'hug' technique that was more useful for briefly holding a villain (Usually while Raven bound them in a cocoon of energy). His feet slipped along the bottom of the rock, and squeezed, his arms wrapped tightly around the green boy's torso. BeastBoy's arms were unmovable beneath the stony arms, because he was bounded now at the elbow.

"LEMME GO! STOP!" came the shout, and a slaught of birds that had been roosting shrieked and fluttered away. Robin stepped to higher parts of the rock, until he was only hip-deep in the water. "Lemme GO!"

Robin had a nervous anger in his stomach, because something had gone wrong, and he knew it had gone wrong, and he had to know now. On the other hand, the thought of what his mentor had once said flashed through his mind and worried him. Damn his curious mind.

–

Anyways, so here's a rundown of my week last week (and my lateness excuse. =C)

-Firebreathing, mind-controlling algae

-The basic history and interpretation of modern philosophy, including regions of various religious and educational text

-Chemistry

fffffff- Three exams and four quizzes in these alone this week. My brain is friiiiiiiieeeeddddd. On the bright side, my grandma sent me a box of candy and CrackerJack, and... Then my favorite (and only happy part of my week, besides reading [anawesomereviewers'] freakyprincess' RedXxRobin fanfiction.... Well, I'll tell you in the next chapter, and you won't be nearly as happy as I was. :)


	21. Chapter 2119pt3

And... I got approved to rent an apartment! =D That might not mean a lot, but.. It's a great apartment, good neighborhood, great price.. And I'm paying for it by myself and all that and.. I don't know. I guess it felt like success. I win at one thing. Also, since the last posted chapter, I turned 18 (By that, I meant Chapter 19, I think.). Whoo-hoo.

Time for dancey-time~!

('!)

–

"Leggo..." BeastBoy groaned, after five minutes of fruitless struggling.

The panic attack had ended, and now he just felt tired. He was slumped forward, knees bent and body loose. He'd just be floating there if Robin weren't holding him up. His face had dried from the water before he'd flipped out, but there were wet, shining streaks on his cheeks that glinted harshly in the dim light. Vacantly, the dim greyness in his mind wondered if it could override the need to breathe, and just stop forever. Probably not.

"We need to talk," Robin said, sternly but amiably. "You don't freak out like that when someone touches you."

BeastBoy just hung there, like a limp noodle. "You do when you're half naked," he said, dully. The joke didn't even crack a smile, even though he would have giggled and poked Robin if this were a year or so ago. Robin would have smiled, just a few minutes ago. But now, he had to know what the matter was.

'Gar has been acting strange, especially lately,' he thought, 'This might be a blessing in disguise, because now I can figure out what's getting at him, without him changing the subject or denying it. I have a reason to worry.'

Robin sighed, and switched the position around. He loosened his grip for a moment, to turn BeastBoy towards him, and then wrapped one strong, white arm over a green one, and over the back, to the other side of BeastBoy's stomach. 'He's a bit skinnier than I remember,' Robin thought, using his other hand to grab the unrestrained green one, 'More solid, though, too.'

He took BeastBoy's wrist in hand, and turned the fleshy, underside of the forearm over, towards the moonlight.

"These aren't stripes," he said, dumbfounded. His arm dropped from BeastBoy's back, and the younger teen stood, head hung. Ashamed. He didn't bother with running away any more. Robin's hands trembled slightly as one held the arm up and straight, and the other followed his eyes, tracing gently scars that were as deep as a quarter of an inch. Pale hands moved across the arm. Scars on scars on scars under fresh, hot cuts, under a few days old. Slender fingers worked their way onto a hard chest, where the bones jutted out sharply and contrast was high where the gashes were.

"Garfield," he breathed in shock, and green eyes shot up at the name, looking at the face where it had come from in shock. No one knew his name. Except maybe Raven. He hadn't even heard that name in... Well, he couldn't remember when he last heard it. A swelling, warm, pink tinge pressed tenderly at the back of his mind. It pushed against what he felt - black and blue. But the look on his leader's face made an indigo river wash through his mind, pulling the pink away in a rushing current. In all the years he had known him, Robin did not cry. Maybe frowned or something, but this was different. BeastBoy was just relieved he couldn't see his eyes, because he was sure that that would break him.

Maybe it was water, on the Boy Wonder's face, but they were tears at that moment, and BeastBoy tried to pull away, more gently this time, honestly sorry for what he had done. Robin's fingers felt air as the scarred, flawed skin moved away, but immediately, he grabbed out. Like a squid, two arms shot out and ensnared BeastBoy, and yanked him close. BeastBoy's arms stayed at his side, but he let his forehead rest against Robin's shoulder. He didn't say anything, and they stood there in silence.

–

The pink was back, again, but a magenta wave crashed at him. Oh, this was the wrong time for that kind of feeling. They were dry now, sitting on the bank and staring into the water. They still hadn't talked, and Robin was examining him more closely, not saying a word. If he had been crying, he wasn't any more. The Boy Wonder's face was expressionless, but there wasn't a tension in the air.

"Why did you do this?" Robin finally asked, looking directly at the boy.

BeastBoy didn't say anything, but looked away.

A few minutes later, he asked again.

"I don't know," BeastBoy said, emptily, staring at the water.

The sting came faster than the sound, it seemed, and BeastBoy looked at the tree that was now in front of him.

"You..." the voice held a barely controlled anger, but desperation and hurtness were frilled around the edges, "You don't.. You don't s_lash_ into yourself like this for _no reason_, BeastBoy."

BeastBoy didn't say anything, but turned back to the water.

"I know," he said, a bulb of tightness in his voice. His cheek hurt now.

Robin took the small nub of a green chin in two fingers, and turned BeastBoy's face firmly to his own. "Then tell me why."

BeastBoy stared into the mask, a red-orange biting at the edges of magenta, that slowly was turning black. He suddenly had the urge to just rip that mask off, to make Robin mad. To kiss him, and see if it was like that one time he kissed that girl in Tokyo (Even though she turned out to be a crazy kitty bent on murdering him). To slap him, and just turn away.

But he didn't do any of those things, because he was too scared and he was just an imperfect _thing _and he didn't have the right to even make this... This perfect boy mad.

"Because I wanted to."

Robin's shoulders shook. "That's not an answer and you damn well know it!"

"Because I needed to."

The black haired boy looked away, fist clenched and shaking. "Tell me why."

A frown creased BeastBoy's lips. "Why do you want to know?"

The masked face turned to him, and BeastBoy, even without the eyes there, could tell that Robin was simply stunned by this question.

"You're my _friend_. I want to help you. You're important," Robin said, biting back how he kind of secretly felt about the smaller boy, "I don't want you to get hurt. You're a fantastic member of our team, and you're a great guy. The team loves you, BeastBoy. Hurting yourself.. It hurts us, too."

That sounded a little selfish, he supposed, but it was the most accurate way he felt at the moment. Hurt and dazed didn't even start to describe the frazzling confusion and the shameful ignorance and the sad frustration and the everything else.

BeastBoy didn't say anything, but after a moment of silence, he tried to look away. He didn't really want to hear this stuff. It was just empty words that people always said when something like this happened. Words didn't really mean anything when they were.... Well, when they were_ just_ words. Robin took the chin again, more gently this time.

"Tell me why," he said, his voice gravelly with tight vocal cords, but soft-sounding. That was just the perfect way he could speak, BeastBoy thought.

Green eyes shook as they stared into a white abyss of mask, thinking.

"Because," he said slowly, trying to sort out his words. He couldn't tell Robin how he _ felt_, because all of that feeling was pushed into thoughts of colors and sensations, not actual thoughts and words he could communicate. Oh, if only he could do that...Raven-entery-mind thingie..

Robin stared patiently at him.

"Because I feel like," BeastBoy started, thinking as he spoke. "Because it's like, not... There's something..."

BeastBoy frowned, cogs in his head turning as he went silent for a moment. Robin broke his stare, and looked back at the inflictions.

'They're _everywhere,' _he thought, picking up a flaccid arm again and looking at it for the umpteenth time. By the end of the night, he'd know the location of each and every scar and cut. His arms felt itchy and his chest hurt from looking at this mutilation.

The green-haired boy sighted. He couldn't think of the words he wanted to use. They all seemed so inadequate. Like he felt.

"You must think the worst of me," he said quietly. "I'm inadequate. I'm terrible and dark and imperfect and ugly."

"Is that why you," Robin hesitated, because the word was so strong in his mind, "Is that why you mutilate yourself? Because of that?"

BeastBoy didn't say anything, but looked at his arms and the bit of his chest he could see. He felt so much more awful, now. Dirty, again.

"I want to get it out of me."

Robin's hand moved from BeastBoy's chin to his cheek. "BeastBoy," he said, tenderly. He'd only used this tone with Starfire, usually when she wanted to 'show the affection moments', or when he (was forced to be) with Kitty.

"You're wonderful," he said, and struggled to find the words. This was just weird. He'd (secretly) watched movies that showed the main character would give a long, drawn out speech about all the good things about the generic female character and even though it happened over and over again in almost all of them it sounded so original and charming and beautiful, and it just seemed to roll off their tongues and he felt awkward and young and sausage-tongued, but he gave his best effort.

"You're funny, and strong," he started with the two most apparent ones to everyone, "But you're really caring and sweet, and you have great tactical skills and hand-eye coordination. You keep everyone on the team kind of laid-back, and you're good at out-of-the-box ideas and," he paused, fluttering for more words. The list he'd made the other night was completely gone from his mind. "You're easy to love and light-hearted, and easy to talk to. You're noncritical and accepting and will do anything to make someone else's day better. You're open-minded and soft and absolutely adorable and sexy at the same time and you're helpful and resourceful and-,"

"Stop it," BeastBoy almost whimpered, pushing Robin away from him, "I don't want to hear things like that." He drew his knees up to his chest, and wound his arms around his knees. He buried his face in his knees to hide away.

Robin frowned, and pulled gently at a tense, green arm, "BeastBoy, please?"

"It's not true," came a muffled response.

Robin's hand didn't drop, or pull harder, but slid up the green, hard arm, to the back of BeastBoy's neck.

"It is, come on," Robin said, and poked down on the pressure point to the left of the back of the green neck. Instantaneously, BeastBoy's neck flinched into the point, and his arms loosened to flinch upwards. He glared at Robin, who didn't quite smile back.

"That's cheating," he said.

"It worked," Robin replied, and lunged forward, stealing the smaller one in a bearish hug, then pinning him on the ground pretty easily. He doubted BeastBoy was even trying at the moment.

"It is true, BeastBoy, or else I wouldn't be so adamant about it," Robin said, "Would I?"

BeastBoy looked at him, obviously thinking. Before Robin could do anything, the boy beneath him blurted it out. "I love you, Robin."

Then, there was a 'swip!' sound as BeastBoy morphed into an andaconda, and easily tossed the BoyWonder off, into the grass. In the time that Robin landed and got back to his feet, running back to where they had been sitting, but a green eagle was already halfway to the top of the waterfall. When it got to the top, near the ledge, BeastBoy reformed, and stood there, a small silhouette in the moonlight. He only stood there, for a moment, before a panther took his place, and ran off into the night.

–

Hurr durr is all I have to say today.


	22. Chapter 22

Hmm.. I have chemistry homework to do...

But, I went to the food court at my college for lunch today, and you know what? I had a taco and some of that amazing fruit juice. That's the basic description – but really, you have never eaten a taco, I mean an actual _taco_, until you have eaten Darrel's Hablaneros tacos. I mean.

A steamed, fluffy tortilla, stuffed to the breaking point with hot, spiced up and perfectly ground beef, with a thin layer of refried beans holding it delectably in place.. Piled high with tomatoes, pico de gallo, guac, lettuce, cheese, and sour cream... Tucked neatly and snugly into the tortilla, folded carefully in a white wrapper. It's huge on top of its deliciousness – at least a two inch diameter of bulging taco wonderment, six inches long. And it doesn't drip like a cheap, greasy taco. It plops, with heavy chunks of scrumptious goodness.

And don't _even_ get me started on my juice smoothie – nearly two oranges, two apples, half a mango and a chunk of banana whirred into all-natural, fruity citrus goodness?

Yeah, my life pretty much _rocks_ today, and chemistry is not about to ruin it. =D

–

"-Hkah, hah, hah, hah, hah," came a worn, dry breath from a tired-looking young man. He coughed and dry retched, but then started breathing roughly again. He had run _all _night. Dawn had passed, and the sun hung lazily behind fat, black-grey storm clouds. Sweat shone in the pallid light, as a green arm leaned heavily on the fat trunk of a weird palmaceous tree with large fruit. Kind of like a coconut palm, but the bark was different, BeastBoy thought absently.

'Why did I say that?' was still ricocheting around in his head, as it had been on and off for the last hours. He'd tried not to think of it, but something looped him back to his royal fuck-up. He was certain he had revolted, disgusted, repulsed, disappointed, shamed, dis...Dis everything-ed his leader, and the person he had been secretly pining over.

But what had he expected – really? He was a ruined _thing_, nothing but black and blue and pain and self-pity. Somehow, his rotten seed had been planted in this shell, and it grew steadily on the inside. The outside was tainted and matched to what he was on the inside – scarred, horrible, ugly. He didn't feel the hot tears on his face as he looked out at the beachy wonder. In just a few hours, he'd bounded from the direct center of the island to the outside – a difficult task, but possible. Especially when you're a large, fast cat. The waves were bigger than when they'd gotten here, and lapped lazily at the shore. The water was rising.

BeastBoy walked out onto the beach, and cold raindrops soon began soothing his hot skin and aching muscles. His legs gave out under him, and he just laid there, stomach-down on cool, grainy sand as the rain began to pour.

–

Robin had packed everything up, except the tent. Everything was inside the tent. To prevent damage from the tropical storm that was coming in, of course. Thanks, Speedy, for letting me know the forecast ahead of time... Not. There really wasn't much to carry, so as soon as it ended, he would take everything back to where it belonged. But for now, the tent – which was heavy duty and durable – would hold down everything efficiently. Robin had the clothes on his back, the T-Comm, and a backpack with food, water, emergency first-aid kit, and a tarp shoved into a moderately-sized backpack. Also, he'd brought his pole and a machete.

All of this had been done last night. He'd wanted to look for BeastBoy last night, but the boy was a lot sneakier than most people figured him for. Robin knew he wouldn't be able to find him in the night, efficiently, anyways, without the other teen changing track. So, he packed everything they had, and set out as soon as he'd finished, instead. Give him a head start, just in case he was checking behind him. That would throw him off, and he'd be less careful hiding his track. Even though it had been a few hours since the sun had risen, Robin had made fair progress – he'd covered a little more than half of BeastBoy's distance with almost shocking accuracy. Then again, BeastBoy had been running. Really running. As in, most of his footfalls crashed into the earth strong enough to make a mark, and a lot of broken branches and angry claw marks had been left on impeding structures. The path now clear, Robin made very good time, but his stamina was wearing low. It would still be hours before he could cover the rest of the ground and-

"Fuck," Robin grunted between breaths, vaulting over a fallen tree. Raindrops plipped and plopped loudly, the first signs of the storm. The track would be washed away, if not completely, then mostly. He reached into the bag, and grabbed a medicine vial. It was a straight shot of B12. Holding his nose, he downed it in a moment, still walking, and then shoved the vial back in the bag, making a face.

Without the extreme berry tang of 5-Hour-whatever, B12 was _nasty_. But, in moments, he felt perkier and stronger and more alert. The mental boost gave him a physical one, and he jumped over slickening, mossy logs and over thornbushes with a fervor previously lost. Even though his white tee-shirt was stuck to his body, and his pants literally could not be heavier, he crashed through underbrush fiercely, the mask keeping rainwater out and his matted-down hair from slinging water into his eyes.

According to the T-Comm, he had only five more miles.

–

BeastBoy felt the ground shake under him as the thunder rolled, but didn't do anything. His legs felt like pre-chewed Jello, that had been put through a blender and then had water added to it. His arms were in a pretty similar state. It was almost like he wasn't there. He kind of liked the feeling of being a nothing, a pile of gelatinous no one that would just wash away, in the tide. He sighed at the shell in front of his eyes before closing them again. He was so tired, but he couldn't sleep now. Water rolled down the green face in rivulets, and all over his bare, green body, the rain pounded. It felt like a massage after all the strain he'd put on it, but soon enough, the tide would nip at his ankles and then his feet and then everything else, and he'd just float off...

That would be fine, his mind told him gently, but there was a dark malice hidden in its soft, sweet voice, you've already ruined yourself, and any chance at happiness.. The ocean is a big place, where even something that's as ugly as you will fit in. You could live at the bottom of the ocean, where it's so dark nothing will ever see you, except maybe a bioluminescent jelly or protoplankton or angler bulb. Even then, most of them can't really see, so it's okay. You can be a freak and no one will even notice.

BeastBoy would have cried, but he was too tired even for that. Instead, he just laid there, sandy and wet and with no sensation, with his eyes closed, waiting to feel the cold ocean pull him under.

–

Robin couldn't feel his body anymore. He'd taken a shot of adrenaline this morning, plus that B12 shot, and had just refueled on adrenaline. Vacantly, he wondered if his heart would explode. If he weren't basically in the epitome of health, it probably would have. But, he'd ran a mile over insane obstacles and around things in drenched jeans and a forty-pound backpack in less than eight minutes. Even though it took... Hm, less than eight hours of BeastBoy's running to get to wherever he was, Robin had covered the same ground in about twelve, and he still would have had two without the hop-up... Maybe four or five without the previous hops, and more than that without the help of BeastBoy's careless marking. His head-start assumption had been right, or BeastBoy had been too preoccupied to really care. He continued through the rain, mind racing and heart beating far too quickly for healthy purposes.

Less than four miles to go. At this rate, just over thirty minutes – assuming the track didn't change, the track didn't fade, and that he hadn't just... turned into a jellyfish and washed out into the tide. He stopped to puke, once, but then kept on trucking.

–

My time in the computer lab is up...

But, since my boyfriend isn't coming to campus until tomorrow, I might write another chapter between now and when he comes tomorrow afternoon. :] Well, I'm going to go take a nap, have a delicious dinner, go to triiiiviiiia niiight at the library, and then I'll be back!

;D Adios, hope you enjoooyeeeed it.


	23. Chapter 22pt2

Soo, he came up[ and stayed until yesterday, haha, so I had zero writing time, sorry. But thassokay, because today I had the. Most. Awesome. Croissant. I know what you're thinking – Eso, you eat croissants all the time. I mean, seriously – you're going to make _my_ esophagus erupt with all the talk of your croissants.

But this croissant was different.

It. Was. Perfection.

The lady cooked the bacon a little more than the other ladies did, and it wasn't breaky. It was perfectly crunchy, crispy, chewy bacon. Cheese melted into every groove of it, between the strips and gently caressing the folded egg below... Ah... And cut perfectly in half.. So warm, gooey, crunchy, and perfectly mouthwateringly delicious...

Man, it's getting close to lunchtime...

NEWNOTE: Omfg. Leftover steamed rice and grilled chicken doused in chili sauce with a packet of soy sauce. Nonglamorous, simple and delicious.

–

BeastBoy didn't feel the fingers firmly wrap around his wrists and pull him up. He stared blankly into the rain. Slowly, the realization he wasn't on the ground anymore sunk in. His body, deprived all but the last droplets of energy, had a reaction time slower than a sloth. As he was carried by a tired boy only a little bigger than him, his legs swayed side-to-side lifelessly. He was too tired to even fight the gravity and close his eyes, it felt like. He stared at a wet tee-shirt, and somewhere, he was aware that it was kind of stuck to his face. A jean hemline poked his forehead every time his rescuer took a step.

Robin couldn't feel much himself. He was aware of one thing – his weight had increased, and it was getting impossible to walk. The adrenaline had worn off – all of his energy was more than gone. Black hair was flat on his head, and the rain didn't even hurt anymore, even though it was raining hard enough that – on the open beach – he could only see for a few feet. On the dry side, the forest would be a better cover. And he was very close, because the sand was changing under his shoes.

'One more step,' resounded in his head. Before today, he had been this tired only once, and that was because Slade had a damn rigorous training regime, on top of Robin's personal preferences, and then running all of his wretched errands at night. The forest was only footsteps away, and to their advantage, abnormally broad-leaved plants grew right at the edge. The waxy layer on top of them – Robin remembered that all the rain would just roll off. It was practically impermeable, and Bruce had shown the natives how to use it to make a kind of sealant.

The rain didn't suddenly stop or turn into light rain when he reached the line of tree and bush. The storm would keep for at least another hour in this condition, if not worse. It might get better after that, but it wouldn't matter. The teenagers were, by all physical means, immobile for at least ten hours Robin fell to his knees, not caring about rocks that dug into his knees. He couldn't feel them, anyhow. Instead of gently letting this boy down from him, he just fell forward against the tree in front of him. BeastBoy slumped off, to the side a bit. It was almost enough for Robin to wriggle out from, but he just could not move anymore.

Soaked to the bone, he stared dully out of the corner of his eye at the slate-grey shield of rain. The tree above them cut down the water falling on them immensely, and the huge fernlike things growing at the base made the thundering water almost disappear into a pale mist.

Finally, the Boy Wonder passed out, and they laid there in the rain, dead to the world.

–

Ohh, I know. But I don't like boinging time to time on the same page, if that makes sense? I guess I'm weird with chapters.. Is boinging a verb? It really should be, if it's not...

Ahem.

Uh.

c: ?

–

Note: Oops, thought I posted this last week. Heh. uu


	24. Chapter 22pt3

()

Lalala, my naaaame is Eso, and I~ like.... lemonade! And pizza! And xylophones! So don't..you... dare...Ruuun awaaaaaaaayyyy~~.

Yeah... I don't know. But this is kind of a continuation of the last chapter, but I'm picky-obsesssive-weird about the 'spacing' and stuff..Sorry if it annoyed you.

Also, the Bloodhound Gang's "Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo". Listen to it. Caaatchy~.

–

Suddenly, the warm was gone. BeastBoy tried to open his eyes, couldn't, and just started groping around in the darkness for the warm again. When his hands failed him, he pulled them back, and tried to rub at his face. It was sopping. The normally oily, water-resistant spiky hair had been completely scrubbed of the natural oil, and was covering his eyes. Ugh. Last time that happened, Starfire tricked him into letting her braid it into corn rows. Bad experience... But, now he could see.

The rain wasn't gone, and it was dark. As in, he could see a few feet in front of him, and that was only because he had amazing night vision. He wondered what time it was. Moreover, where he was. This definitely wasn't the bottom of the ocean.

When he tried to stand, he couldn't. The entire bottom half of him was asleep. He tried wiggling his toes, and go from there. Every single tendon, ligament, muscle, bone, tissue... He thought maybe he could even feel his liver. It was all there, from the waist up. Maybe waking up his lower half wasn't a good i- oh, there it _was._ Suddenly, he was aware. If his throat weren't drier than the Sahara, he'd have yelled out in agony.

The bottom of his feet, well, he figured that the soles were gone. In his head, he could see what was there. He'd run so much, over and through so much, that it was just bone. No skin, but open, ivory bone, with coagulated blood and dirt lacing the sides of the swollen, broken feet. Maybe he'd turned wrong a few times, and the ankles were broken out of the skin, in the wrong direction. It felt that way. His calves burned, like glass was in his blood, slicing and ribboning the veins and arteries inside. Every single muscle fibre was broken – he was probably a paraplegic now. The knees were skinned to the bone, and there were pebbles inside, sharp-edged and poking at the bone underneath, scraping grooves into them. Green thighs quivered with tiny spasms as the gut-wrenching pain moved its way up. Sticks and bark from the tree he was leaning on speared his sore rump, and his back was scalded, the skin probably peeled back so the tree was rubbing on his insides. A lithe green chest was holding in the breath that wanted to scream from the utter destruction.

Suddenly, something appeared into his vision, haggard, limping, and bent. Whatever it was was hurting, but stronger than him. For a moment, he was scared. Like this, there was no way to fight off anyone or anything. He was completely and totally vulnerable.

Robin slumped back down onto the ground with a large 'plud.' He'd have fallen over, but he'd already self-medicated and eaten something. At the moment, he was considerably stronger than the changeling, even though he'd had to exert over four times as much effort to get to the same place. A pale, shaking hand reached towards him.

After tensing a bit, BeastBoy realized Robin wasn't reaching for him, but something next to him.

The backpack.

Robin pulled out a bottle of water, and offered it to his friend. BeastBoy took it. Then, he pulled out a little vial of pills and a bag of berries and nuts, as well as some flat-bread the natives had sent. He unrolled the cloth of bread on BeastBoy's lap, and set the berries and nuts on it, next to the bread.

The Boy Wonder laid back down, and BeastBoy heard him fall back to sleep.

All of this happened completely wordlessly, and it was understandable why. Their throats were practically air-burnt from simply the breathing.

The pink feeling ballooned under a black ocean, pushed by a lovely magenta propeller. Indigo and yellow and white and orange ribbons flew in circles around the magenta, and the pink grew larger, close to breaking the black, tarry barrier.

He felt almost cliché, thinking that this person cared about him. It was pleasant to have someone take care of you. It made him feel bad that he had run away.

Surely, if Robin didn't care, he wouldn't have followed him, right? That was a perfectly logical assumption. He wouldn't have half-killed himself, trying to keep up with a beast if he didn't at least have some inkling of reason.

The rain was mostly dissipated, but a steady shower lingered. It was no more than a mist in the trees. BeastBoy drank the water, even though every muscle in his arm wanted to stay limp. It twitched some. The bottle felt like it weighted fifty pounds, even after he sipped at it. He ate some of the painkiller. There wasn't enough in there to do any damage – four. Robin had taken them out earlier, all but those. It didn't kick in immediately, but once he had managed to pick up the bread and make his fingers close around a clump of nuts and fruit, it started. The glassy, sharp pain lessened to a dull ache. Instead of iron nails and pebble shards, there were invisible, bony hands clutching at the muscles and squeezing them uncomfortably, poking in a few wrong spots. Also, his lips weren't dry anymore. For several minutes, he drank the water and polished off the rest of the small meal, chewing slowly and swallowing thoughtfully. The painkiller was also a sedative, apparently, because now he was tired.

So tired.

He slumped back against the tree, water bottle resting at the end of his hand, cloth over his lap.

–

Du du du, l-e-m-o-n-a-d-e.

Sorry for the lack lately.

Last week was surely a plot to murder me, just so it's known.

Someoneisouttogetme D:

Um, working on the actual next thing now, this was kind of a run-on sentence. Also, just wondering, would anyone like to know what Raven, Star, and Cy are up to? It's been a a while since we've seen them. o3o


	25. Chapter 23

This is my only explanation:

Arfgdm, fmdk dmgro mfber! SDFGFHGJ. Dfsgherfg , fgb rg r eamfsdfgkf l emgsfdgfk gk rmge! sdFDGFG!

And I apologize. T_T

Raven frowned at the large screen in Robin's private quarters. He hadn't sent a transmission in two days, and it worried her. Starfire would have said it was something good, but… Well, the dark-haired girl didn't want to worry the redhead, or anyone else, and had just kept the little worrisome tidbit to herself. She tapped impatiently at some keys, watching the screen. Gizmo's transponder was only supposed to activate one way – for obvious purposes. In case they had found At-whatever and the transponder went off when they were gathering info. But surely Robin would have sent BeastBoy out or something, just to give them a quick thumbs up?

Gizmo was more than good at programming. The kid was a mastermind.

Luckily, Raven was smart – and she knew a thing or two about computers that would have probably even surprised Gizmo. Within forty five minutes, she'd altered the programming and tinkered with the satellites just right, and the signal was outgoing to her teammates. It crackled with static and remained black.

"Failed Transmission: Code 14."

Raven frowned, at tapped the keys.

A loud beeping woke Robin up. He reached over the green shin he'd been using as a [n uncomfortable] pillow, and into the backpack. His arm trembled as it extended, as even these muscles were exhausted. The T-Comm blared even louder once it was outside of the insulated innards of the backpack. Tired fingers pressed blindly at the buttons along the side, head buried between a leg and arm, face to the dirt. It stopped beeping, and there was a soft, white-noise static.

"Robin?"

Robin didn't speak, but dropped the T-Comm. It was too heavy. He sighed before he said Raven's name.

"Is everything okay out there?"

"Yeah."

"Why haven't you-"

"Because."

"You know that's not an-"

"I know."

For a moment, there was only static and buzzing of insects. Robin heard the ocean fizzing and birds chirping somewhere distant.

"Are you done?"

"Yeah. Maybe. I dunno."

Raven frowned. The screen showed the top of the tree they were under, and water was dripping onto it. Ferns. She couldn't see the guys anymore, and that bugged her some.

"Report again tonight," the oldest Titan commanded. She ended her half of the transmission, but kept the camera rolling on their side. She needed to know they were safe and not being coerced to speak. Beastboy hadn't said a word.

On the ground, Robin sighed loudly. A SladeBot watched from a high tree, out of sight of the T-Comm, and another from a low bush. BeastBoy didn't move, because he was still sleeping.

'Get up,' Robin's brain told him, 'Eat, drink. Definitely drink. Stretch. Move the lactic acid around.'

He laid there. Telling himself to get up. Vacantly, he wondered how long, exactly, he'd been laying there. His feet were numb, and his back was twisted oddly as he slept. The ground had dug into his knees, hip, and elbows, and his fingers tingled. He took in a deep breath, and rolled off of his side, onto his back. A branch poked painfully into his back, but at least it woke him up a little more. He laced his hands over his chest, and popped the knuckles, bending the fingers back and forth. Swirled his wrists. He started again at his feet with as much as he could, and lifted a leg up. Contract, expand, repeat, repeat. Soon, the muscles felt less taut, and he sat up slowly, breathing heavily. Although he was used to extreme exertion because of his rigorous training, the eccentric feeling of sluggishness that came after the episode never failed to shock him. He felt slow, like he was trapped in molasses-thick air.

Regardless, he ate a little of what was left in the bag, just a bit, and drank almost a full bottle of water. He felt faster after this, and looked over at his dead-like companion. The tiny green chest shallowly pulled itself up and down.. Up and down.. A pale hand, lined deeply with mud in the crevasses and nicks, reached into the backpack, and extracted a spare tee shirt.

No use in letting him get bug bites.

Robin knee-walked over to his teammate, with the shirt and the leftovers of the bottle of water. Noting that some of the food was gone (the rest was being attacked by ants) and that some of the water had been drained from the earlier bottle, Robin was mildly pleased. He ripped a sleeve off of the tee-shirt, and wet it.

There were lots of long, dark lines of mud across BeastBoy's chest, and he had a sick feeling he knew what they were, and knew that he should probably at least make an effort to clean the kid up some. He dabbed gently at the highest line.

The mud had mostly dried, and gave way easily. A dark, greenish-purple flesh showed under the skin. Maroon stained the tee shirt a bit as he went, and tiny rivulets of blood ran down the slender chest. But, Robin thought as he tore off the other sleeve, and wet it, it would be better for the scab to be clean, rather than form over mud particulate. There could be foreign fungus in this soil, or something.

The boy in front of him stirred. Robin's jaw hardened, and he tossed the other sleeve toward his pack. But BeastBoy didn't wake up, just lolled his head to the other side. Robin grabbed one arm, and stuck it through the shirt. He felt like a doting mother, and felt… something else.

He wasn't sure what it was. But it didn't matter. This seemed kinda… gay. Dressing your friend. Yeah, pretty gay. He pulled the shirt over messy, dirty green hair, and leaned the changeling towards him. The tree had imprinted into the back, only slightly, for lack of any fat or muscle or… anything on his back. It left scratches. Robin pulled the shirt down, thinking he probably should have done this earlier. It was his responsibility to keep his team safe, and on this foreign island, any kind of fungus or bacteria could make its way into the system, and there wouldn't be anything he could really _do_ about it, except try… Well, he was doing his best.

'Are you really?' his mind chided, 'Are you really even trying? He's been mutilating himself for only god knows how long. You made your teammate run off. He probably thinks you're a sexual predator, or…a stalker or something like that. Doing a reaaaaaaaaaaaalllly good job. And now, you let him get even more banged up, probably get some weird-ass disease, and he'll probably die. Good work, buddy! Go team!' His head drooped.

"Well shit," he said to himself, "I'm just a kid, too."

'Yes, and you were raised by the Batman. You should know better, Robin. You should know this.'

He didn't have a response to that.

He leaned back, adjusted the towel on the green guy's lap, and plopped down on his tail. Nothing left to really do now but rest up and wait. Maybe think of some kind of cover. Dunno. Something would come to him.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaannnd I dunno where I'm going with this. Still. =w=UUUU BUT. I will be popping something out tomorrow, hopefully, with my/kindofborrowedinternet? Because I have the day off. 3 I'm soooo sorry, gaiz… T_T You…you understand, right? Horribly hard life of a college student with two and a half jobs… Right? D:


	26. Chapter 24

Donald Trump has nice hair.

–

Raven turned off the transmission. They were just chilling in the jungle. Nothing bad seemed to have happened – it just seemed like they were resting. She'd check again later, though, just in case. If they were resting in the middle of the day by sleeping deeply and not moving whatsoever, then something had kept them awake all night. Speaking of which... Raven looked at the clock. It seemed like a good time for tea. Maybe lunch.

'Starfire might like to go out,' her mind suddenly prodded at her, and instantly, the purple-haired girl felt a pang of guilt. There had been few altercations in town while the guys were away. Slade hadn't even sent them anything, but he probably already knew Robin was gone and didn't give a thought to sending the girls and Cyborg anything. And Robin wasn't around to take her out, and BeastBoy wasn't around to make her giggle. She was probably dying of boredom, and trying to cook, or some other dangerous thing. Raven flipped up her hood, and went seeking Starfire.

The halls were abnormally quiet. Raven inwardly frowned, stopping at Starfire's doorway.

'She doesn't even have that larva to play with, anymore.'

Tap, tap, tap. Raven knocked sharply three times. Upon no response, she tapped again. There was a loud sigh and then the soft, barely noticeable disruption in the air's electricity that always came with Starfire's flight. The Azarath wondered if anyone else had noticed it as the door opened.

"Starfire!" Raven said, stepping back, and actually raising a hand to her mouth. Boredom had taken its toll. Beyond Starfire, the room was shiny... Too shiny. She'd used so much Pine-Sol, Windex, and paint that the room glowed with an unearthly orange. And Starfire looked stoned out of her mind. The entire room was repainted a glittery pink, and tons of... Stuffed animals, candy, princess toys, and various other five-year old girl things were neatly organized everywhere, and they shone wetly with disinfectant. The alien, herself, was shiny with speckles of paint and cleaning fluids. There was a light padding sound as her toes touched the ground, and she dropped onto the balls of her feet.

"Hallo, friend Rav'n," she drawled lazily, and Raven realized that the television behind the door was playing reruns of "Bonanza" and "Green Acres".

"How'ya? Like ter come in fer a spot of brandy?"

As the lemon-fresh scent of Pine-Sol rolled into her face, Raven's eyes went wide. Stoned and poisoned. Great.

–

The dark woke Robin up. The soreness had faded some, and they had made their way back about an eighth of the way over the past day. But he hadn't carried anything else to eat with them, and they were out of water. Weakness hadn't set in yet, but he could feel hunger gnawing gently at his stomach. Garfield slept quietly next to him, using his chest as a pillow. Robin stayed still, breathing and staring into the night.

There was no way they could make that trip back to camp in a similar time. They were both operating on fatigue. It would take at least three days, and by then, they might be delirious from not drinking any water. They couldn't afford any extra exertion, though. Four days would be a better bet. Robin wondered, slightly admiring their speed and strength from an objective point of view, at the amount of distance they had traveled that day. Fantastic record setting, even though it required so much extra pushing.

Yesterday, he had decided that the best move was to simply pretend this never happened. Well, not all of it, but the frightening running off violently. He'd just take it slow, and figure it out on his own. He'd pay more attention to his team. Especially to Garfield. He glanced at the sleeping figure next to him, and his mind filled in the shadows from memories. The soft, yet angular face. Soft, olive-green skin, and those calm, slightly taunting, moss-colored eyes. The natural radiance of his smile. He felt again a flicker of warmth in his stomach.

Starfire was a fantastic friend, but he'd never held her this comfortably, even at home. There was never a strange, warm, ember-burning feeling in his stomach when he held her, or the nervous tongue-tiedness that he would sometimes get around this young man. He could talk more easily to him, about anything. His words came freely and naturally. Starfire.. She couldn't really fully comprehend what he was saying, a lot of the time. He'd noticed that around month two, when he'd overheard her pestering Raven for a fuller explanation on his explanations of 'necessary solitude'. She made him... Well, she made him want to be quiet, he guessed.

There was a sharp, but quiet noise above them. Instinctively, the arm draped over BeastBoy's shoulder contracted and pulled the teen closer. Robin scanned the overstory as well as he could in the darkness. The normal sounds of night were tuning out, and he tried to listen for the other, more threatening thing. He felt it there.

The muddy, black-haired boy froze, and held his breath. His fingers creeped slowly towards his backpack, where his X-tender was. The special rod, identical to his own that he'd used with the Titans, was a fully loaded armory or surprises and tricks. He'd hoped not to have to use it.

The cracking noise happened again, and Robin saw it, briefly in the moonlight.

Although his imagination was generally kept leashed and close for easy handling and rationalizing, the day without water and fatigue let an image of the creature slide into his mind. It was fast – it had taken away moonlight for only one second. It was big– because it had completely eclipsed his view of the moonlight from the overstory. The tail had briefly glinted in the light as it swooped out of vision. Four feet long, give or take a few inches, and bright, glinting scales had covered the tail. He couldn't remember the color. He replayed the moment in his mind. The head was large and triangular, like a snake or a lizard. The mouth had dripped, small droplets of saliva had fallen as it jumped. Flown. The teeth were huge – that's why it had it's mouth open.

Robin felt his heart beat harder. Beast Boy stirred under his arm, and he squeezed the younger man. Another snap, and heavy breathing.

The black-haired boy looked around frantically, not moving his head. There was a hot breath on his neck, and he smelled the damp, dour sick breath rolling over his face.

–

Raven held Starfire's hair in a clumsy, messy handful with one hand, the other patting the orange-ish alien's back. Starfire retched again. Raven had given her Soditol to make her empty the contents of her three stomachs, and they seemed to be nearing the end of the cleaning supplies, because real food was coming out now.

"Rough night in the saloon, pard'ner?" Raven asked, sardonic.

Starfire wiped her mouth with a clean, warm, wet towel. "Yes'm," she said, the stoned look on her face slowly disappearing. "The aftermath is quite horrid."

"I can tell. You need a shower and some tea," Raven said, as the taller teen stood straight, wobbling some. "My special blend should sober you up, and help your stomach."

Starfire just nodded, and Raven helped her to the bathroom. The girl couldn't even walk in a straight line. But, Raven was confident that she'd eradicated most of the toxins from her system. The Tamaranian's strong alien nature could do the rest. Starfire sat on the toilet, and Raven felt another pang of guilt for letting her get so bored that she went on a cleaning binge. She looked half-stoned, half-dead, and one hundred percent dismal and pathetic. Raven leaned over the tub, and turned on the water.

Because of a picky Raven, the bathroom in the girls' wing had been redone completely. By Raven. The shower was on one side, and a large, modernized tub was on the other of the bedroom-sized bathroom. The tub was almost like a hot tub in depth and shape, and she'd even put in a seat so it could double as one. As it slowly filled, she pressed a button, and pink bubbles appeared in the water, softly scented like flowers. When it got about halfway full of water, she turned some lets onto low power.

"I'm just going to go into the kitchen and make you some tea," the dark-haired girl said, turning, "you just- Hey, let's be decent, now!"

Starfire had stripped down to her underthings, and stared at Raven almost sadly. Raven was glad her hood was up. Her emotions were zinging around like fireflies in her head because of all that had happened lately, and with zero meditation, it was starting to confuse her.

"Am I not pretty enough?" Starfire asked morosely, finishing her job. "I think Robin thinks that I am not."

Raven looked at the shower and concentrated on it. A pump-bottle of hand soap exploded, splattering the Tamaranian in yellow-orange goo.

"You're very pretty, Starfire," Raven said, as calmly as she might've. "Maybe we can go to the mall later, and scope out some cute... Boys, and uh, you'll forget all about Robin for a little while, okay? We'll play some games, get some lunch, and get some eye candy. Sound good?"

Raven was aware of the heat in front of her, and hands on her shoulders. The bar soap on the counter made a loud 'ploomf' as it exploded, and soft, claylike lumps spattered everywhere.

"That sounds lovely, Raven, but first, we have to get clean," Starfire said, and Raven was shocked at the feral, seething... Stoned, maybe, lust in that voice. The towel rack started spinning violently, yanking at its foundations as the Tamaranian pushed Raven into the water.

–

...Uh... Huh.


	27. Chapter 25

'Kay. So, I quit one of my jobs. And picked up babysitting again. C: So, my... hiatus, unplanned, should be over. Especially since I wrote a few short stories for gaia and... Well, my writer's block and time have both freed up a little. Sorry for making you guys wait. ;-;

But uh, yeah. So, I'm babysitting right now, which is awesome... but the girls are asleep, which is not. I want to play princess and horses and airplanes and color... but...naptime. Guess I'll write, instead. *hearts* So, I'm eating some of the leftovers from last night, because their mommy wanted me to try her new Tex-Mex lasagna. And Oh. My. God.

IT IS THE BEST LASAGNA EVER (besides my mother's). It's got beans and chicken and corn and it is SUPAH SPICY. But oh, so so SOOOO delicious.

AND, fall semester starts soon. HELLLOOOOO CAFETERIA AND CROISSANTS.

Ahem. TT is not mien.

–

Slowly, Robin's head turned, and his eyes were met by soft, disarming hazel ones. The moonlight cast them in a dreamy fog. It was like looking into crystal amber. The loud, raspy bark it gave made him tear his eyes away, and roll on top of his sleeping friend, then onto shaky knees, in a shabby defensive position. Not being able to see anything but those hot, amber eyes in the dark was alarming, and the slim pupils dilated as it stepped into the moonlight.

From head to tail, it was at least nine feet long, but probably longer. Its head was catlike, save the two horns protruding from its skull. The fur was short and dark, almost a burnt orange-red color. The teeth were big, but not more than five inches a fang. Its maw was shut, the two largest fangs yellow and wet-looking. It stepped towards him sleekly, a soft, motor-like purr emanating from its throat. Misshapen, probably useless, tattered wings flapped lazily in the night. Whatever it was, its ancestors could have flown, easily. He heard a snap behind him, and the thing bark-shouted again. The snaps occurred again, and Robin was aware that there was another thing nearby. This one was claiming its meal. The face was again sheathed in shadow as it moved towards him. The tattered, pitiful wings were next. The tail was long, and looked well-kept. It was not bitten or ragged. It flicked around lazily, and Robin, scooting himself back and shaking BeastBoy gently. Vacantly, he noticed that the fur had faded into tiny, black scales as the animal crept closer. In the next patch of moonlight, he saw the change, rippling across the entire animal. The horns stretched and grew, and the amber eyes had faded into an ugly, dull brown, then into a hateful yellow. The slitlike pupils were small, and followed him hungrily. The teeth were hidden in the scaly snout of this new thing that was the same, and the tattered wings were suddenly full, black and leathery, fluttering excitedly in the night stirring.

"Ach-tey," Robin whispered, "the changing dragon, nightwalker." He started pulling at BeastBoy as the dragon opened its mouth, in a wide, stretching yawn. It roared.

BeastBoy's eyes popped open, dazed with sleep, and he stared into the cavernous gullet of the creature. He stood, panic setting in, and Robin pulled at the green one, trying to grab his X-tend, flailing for it with a free hand.

The black thing snapped loudly, gnashing its teeth, and leapt at them.

–

Raven sat in her room, putting on a little makeup. Her hair was dried, and she had put on a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a snug "The Assassins" tee. The Adverse shoes on her feet were new-looking, since she rarely wore them. There was a tapping at her door, and she smudged eyeliner unevenly on her eye.

"It's unlocked," she said, a hint of annoyance in her tone, as she fixed her makeup, and unlocked the door with a little energy.

Starfire poked her head into the faded room. Raven was sitting in front of a black vanity, doing her makeup. The redhead walked to her, slowly and shyly, her pink tennis shoes padding softly on the dark carpet.

"Friend Raven, I am sorry about-"

"I told you, Star, it's fine," Raven said, finishing her makeup, and snapping the case closed. The paler teen stood, grabbing a slim black wallet off of the vanity. "Are you ready to hit the road?

Starfire nodded, smiling.

The two left, and Raven glanced at her teammate. She looked happy again. Her pink lip gloss glinted in the sun, making her smile all the more dazzling. Her skin looked soft, and her snug pink shirt and denim shorts showed off a pierced belly button. Raven pointed at it as they got into Raven's car – which she had purchased with money from her own investments – and asked when that had happened.

"Oh, well, I saw some women on television, and I saw girls in town..." Starfire said, thinking aloud, "Anyways, it seemed popular. I thought Robin would like it."

"Oh," Raven said noncommittally, revving up the Benz.

–

Robin's eyes fluttered open, and he stared into big, green pools of worry.

He sat up, looking around frantically, grabbing the young man in front of him, and holding him protectively. "Where is it?" he whispered roughly, unable to feel his legs.

"Whhrr ss wht?" came the muffled question, and Robin felt BeastBoy wriggling against him.

"The dragon-thing! The nightwalker!" Robin said, relaxing his hold some.

"Uh," BeastBoy muttered, pulling his head free, "I'unno, but it was gonna be here soon if you didn't stop shouting and moaning in your sleep."

Robin let the changeling go.

"Oh," he said indifferently, frowning.

He hadn't dreamed in a long time. Weird.

"You okay? Should we try to move in the night?" BeastBoy asked, squinting at his friend in the dim light of the moon.

"No," Robin said, "Yes. Well, I guess if you want to. But the poisonous things are out at night."

"We can fly, it'll be faster."

Robin stared at his friend, thinking. He should have reached this conclusion faster.

"Yeah," he said slowly, "But your metabolism will skyrocket. We have no food."

"We do at camp, and we might could make it to the village, even."

Robin considered it. They had slept for many hours, and flying would be faster. In the coolness of night, it would be easier on BeastBoy, too.

"Alright," he conceded. "We'll go as far as you can without hurting yourself. If you feel weak, you stop. We can find... something in the morning light as we get farther inland. Water, at the very least.

The green pterodactyl nodded, flapping its healthy, striped wings impatiently. Robin laced his hands tightly around its neck, and he felt the wind start whipping in his hair.

–

Raven nodded, and didn't have to force a fake smile at the seventeen thosandth dress Starfire had tried on.

"I like that one, and the violet one, and the red one," Raven said, meaning every word of it. "The violet one was my favorite, though."

Starfire smiled at her teammate. "Really?" she asked, looking into the mirror.

"I thought you might like this one, because of its color," she said.

Although the dress was tight in all the right places, the black dress, criss-crossed with wildly designed laces, chains, and zippers didn't fit Starfire's... Starfire-ness. Strappy black stilletos were laced up to her mid-thigh, and it was sexy, but not in the way it would have been, say, on Jinxy. Starfire disappeared into the changing room, returning in the cute tennis shoes, hi-cut tank top, and short denims she'd worn originally. Over her arm was the violet dress.

"I think I'm going to buy this one," she said, leaving the others on an overstuffed clothing rack. The poor employee who had to put them all back, after checking them for tears and such, was crying in the corner, into the arms of an obviously startled, shocked manager.

"Cool," Raven said, standing. Her butt was numb from sitting so long. "Wanna hit the arcade? I thought I saw a new DDR in there."

"Sure," the Tamaranian said, as the clerk handed her back her credit card and the big, white bag with the dress in it. "I love DDR."

–

Robin looked down at the ground. There was the river. They were getting close. Camp was a two-hour hike from this point, so they were nearly home free.

Seventy feet behind them, the SladeBots followed.

–

"Great!"

"Good!"

"Killer!"

"Great!"

"Okay!"

"Perfect!"

The machine spat out praises as a blond girl danced on the machine. She was on Hard, and all the boys were clapping. A few girls looked at her jealously, but clapped nonetheless.

"New Hi-Score! B+!" the machine read, joyous music playing. The girl jumped from the machine, and Starfire gave her a high five. Raven frowned. She didn't much like DDR, but she knew how to do it.

"Let's play, Raven?" Starfire asked.

Raven grinned, nodding. Even though she didn't like it, doing it with Starfire made it more bearable.. And kind of fun, really. "You go first!" The dark-looking girl encoraged, pushing Starfire onto the dance pad.

Starfire inserted her quarters, and as they clinked to the bottom, she chose her level – Expert – and the bounciest song she could find.

Hundreds of arrows flooded the screen as the song played.

"Okay!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Great!"

"Perfect!"

"Perfect!"

"Perfect!"

"Killer!"

"Killer!"

"Killer!"

The small crowd shouted merrily, cheering her on. A thunderous applause appeared as the words flashed on the screen, "New Hi-Score! Expert! A++!"

Raven clapped along with everyone else.

"Dude, did you see the way her tits jiggled?"

"So freaking hot..."

A black aura suddenly filled Raven's head, and a sick greenish energy found the two snot-mouths. A candy machine exploded, as she read the thoughts in their mind.

Regardless, she forced a huge grin for Starfire, and stepped onto the board.

"Level – Expert!"

Raven stared at the screen, and let her feet dance along the buttons.

"Okay!"

"Okay!"

"Good!"

"Great!"

"Good!"

The crowd began to dissipate as Raven's game finished.

"Okay! C+!"

Starfire patted her friend's back. "That is a very good score," she said, "would you like to play again?"

Raven glanced at the two who'd made her mad. They won the game they were playing, but Raven jammed the tickets, and they looked angry and started beating the machine.

"Nah," she said, "All this dress-picking and dancing has made me hungry. Let's hit the food court, and do some other things. I heard they put in a new bookstore on the second floor that I'd like to see."

As they left, the security was dragging the two snot-nosed geeks that had pissed Raven off out of the arcade.

–

Robin fell from BeastBoy's back with a light thud. The changeling returned to his human form, and his face looked sunken and tired.

"Let me carry you," Robin commanded, "The tribe is close. They'll give you food and rest. We're going home soon."

Rather than a response, BeastBoy fainted into Robin's arms, breathing shallowly.

Robin tenderly picked him up, hanging him gently over his shoulder and marching towards the tribe grounds. He felt a prick on his ankle, and picked up the pace. BeastBoy seemed to get heavier, five minutes later. His vision swam, and the fire on the watch-post at the side of the village seemed far too green for fire. He laughed, but water came out. Absurd. Absently, he felt himself step in a gooey water, and BeastBoy was actually a part of him.

'Look at me, I am the Hunchback!' his mind laughed, spinning merrily with his vision.

A night watcher ran towards him, silently, and Robin tried to shout.

"Why won't Aaron give me his candy?," came out as a raspy whisper as the Boy Wonder fell to the ground.

–

I think I'mma have some sushi for dinner...


	28. Chapter 26

I learned a naughty word in Chinese today from one of the chefs! :D It was.. uh... Sah koe-ah. If you can tell me what it means, I'll be faster about the next chapter... (By skipping my recent binges.)

Also, kudos to anyone who caught the glimpse into what Robin might have on his iPod, and the slight disturbing image it may or may not have yielded.

Greedy Aaron and his always wanting Candy.

Teen Titans isn't mine, etc.

–

Vision swam eerily, casting shades of color that didn't match around the room in crazy kaleidoscopes of dizzy freedom. Faces passed, and at night, fireworks took over, painting the room in pretty orange flames. Small stings occasionally bothered the black-haired boy, but he slapped at them absently, more concerned with his lightshow and all the things that he suddenly knew.

The whole world made sense, and everything was peaceful and easy. He didn't have any unanswered questions, and there were no negative feelings – of that, he was certain. The world was just easy, wonderful, and beautiful. A lady fed him something wonderfully sweet every few hours, something bitter a little less often, and once or twice, she'd made him eat sour, nasty things. She made him drink some spicy stuff that was colorfully clear, and some tasteless rainbowy prism liquid. There was no hunger, just an elated sense of flying while he laid here on this sweet, soft, cloud.

The wildly misshapen, lovely Elf poked his head into the room, and Robin giggled with a shy glee, waggling his fingers at the pretty thing. It – well, Robin thought it was a he, knew it was a he, actually, because he knew everything now – would only poke his head in every now and then, but something kept the little elf from coming inside. That usually made the wonderful colors fade to blue and green, but everything in his world fixed itself very quickly, because it knew the elf would return.

An orange lady, with crazy on-fire hair suddenly crashed in through the kaleidoscope where the Window was. Luckily, the glass wasn't there, but he couldn't remember why. He knew why, though, so he just stared at the floating on-fire lady, not worried. She started talking, and floated to him, her arms flowing over him as she pet him carefully.

Robin stared at her, bewildered at the nothing that was coming out of her mouth.

"Wrfg fdghykgtr mgdkf mgf aeot ak vrgf... Werotalm mtl kltvn mkldf! Migkodper rif ortrotg otgf speorf..." the lady sobbed at him.

The feeding-lady burst in the door, and Robin gladly looked at her. This lady had never talked, but she could calm the alien with her sweet-food. The feeding-lady, however, ignored the sobbing wretch atop him, and forced a sparkling something at him. He wrinkled his nose. This stuff was the sour, bitter, nasty stuff. But, she would bring a sweet soon if he ate this, so he ate it, and felt his face jiggle unhappily and his skin crawl as he swallowed the stuff.

The world turned a dark red, then he faded into black fireworks and grey skies.

–

Cyborg frowned disapprovingly at the techology-barren village. Raven was slowly discerning the thick speech of the only native that knew broken English. Starfire stared sullenly at BeastBoy, who stared at dirt floor of the hut emotionlessly.

"Spider?" Raven asked, and sketched something on a piece of paper, and showed it to the man she was talking to. The man nodded quickly, the beads in his hair clacking loudly. After ten minutes of fruitless explaining in bad English that hadn't been practiced in years, he'd simply begun a game of charades with her. He pointed to his leg and started explaining the method of the predator, how its venom worked, and the antidote they were currently dosing him with, along with a description of the spider to the best of his abilities.

Raven took neat, meticulous notes, and when she was done, thanked the man, and asked Cyborg to analyze her notes find out what it was. He nodded curtly, muttering something about having a date later, and how Bee would kill him for standing her up. From under her hood, Raven glanced at BeastBoy and Starfire. She really should have brought extra clothes for the two boys, but in the urgency of BeastBoy's call with the transmitter, she'd just gathered everyone up and immediately jetted down to the island. She wondered what recklessness had occurred, because so far, the only information she'd gotten was from the natives.

"BeastBoy," she called, trying to sound as nice as possible. Her stomach turned at the sickly sweet tone. "Have you gotten your things from your campsite?"

Slowly, he looked up at her. She frowned, and tried to poke into his mind a little.

"No," he said, and got up slowly, and in her head, she could hear his bones and muscles creaking with agony. "I'll go get them, though."

Raven shook her head, and a little telepathic wisp of energy poked at BeastBoy's brain. Unknown to most non-telepaths, the practice to a little work. Each mind was like a safe, and you had to touch it in just the right manner to get in. Usually, she found the spot with ease, but because of the jumbled, awry state of his aura, she was having trouble getting in.

"I'll help you," she covered, knowing she'd need to be near him to get in his head. The energy that outlined him since she'd gotten here had been dark. From personal experience, she knew he wouldn't talk about it til he lightened up. And frankly, if he had any memories relevant to Robin's illness, she'd need to know sooner than later.

The green boy shrugged, and turned from her. "We're pretty far out. We can fly out there, it'll be a lot easier," he offered, and started to jog towards the underbrush. She didn't respond, but immediately lifted off the ground with ease. A pterodactyl burst into view ten yards from the underbrush, tearing off the brown grass robe it had been wearing, and lifted into the air gracefully. The playing tots looked with awe at the leathery, green reptile before it soared off with a black dart over the trees.

As they flew, Raven admired the land with an almost envious eye. This place was lush and beautiful, teeming with hundreds of unknown species. She might like to know some of the flora and fauna here, and wondered if she could get a pass through Robin to come down here sometime and poke around. Absently, she poked at the pterodactyl. Sometimes it was easier to get ahold of animals, and she vacantly assumed the same might follow for a person who was in the state of an animal. As the campsite appeared in a small dot, she found the opening, and delved into his mind.

Quickly, the small wisp of energy unlocked the safe that held memories, and dashed to find the most recent ones. If she spent too long in someone's head, they noticed, or she would accidentally end up controlling them... And they'd remember and know as soon as she let go of them. Her powers still needed a lot of honing, strong and effective as they were.

She grabbed about two hours worth of memories from various places, and copied them into her own mind with an intense concentration. As they touched the ground, she stole an hour's worth of emotional memory, two hours of physical memory, and thirty minutes of assumptive memory from random files over the last week or so. As the changeling returned, she immediately looked the other way as she was forced out of his mind.

"I've got extra clothes in the tent," he said, and she was surprised by the monotone that had been in his voice since she'd arrived here with the team. Usually, he couldn't keep that up for more than an hour.

"Alright," she said, staring into the jungle.

Thirty minutes later, he was in one of his black leotards, tying the last bag of his and Robin's things together. Raven had strapped on one of the backpacks, and BeastBoy would carry the other things in a sling they'd built quickly from large leaves and vines. Raven had looked at him, and asked what had happened earlier. He'd shrugged and said he'd been passed out when Robin got bitten, didn't know, couldn't remember, and just wanted his leader to get better. He offered that they should leave and get him real medical attention, but Raven had disagreed. This spider, so far, anyhow, was unknown elsewhere. Cyborg was still looking, but she would have gotten a text or message if he'd found out.

"Let's get back, then," she'd said, awkwardly, and when she looked towards him, a pterodactyl was already flapping heavy wings.

As they returned to the village, she absently began to review the fading memories.

–

Well, it's disjointed. :/ I started it one morning before work, and then finished it another morning... There's totally a reason I try to do one chapter in one sitting, and review it later... Heh. Anyways, if anyone knows what the word "sah koe-ah" means, then I'll post the next chapter before the end of the week. If not, then... I'll post it... before the end of the week, but on my second day off rather than the first. Bwahaha~... Okay, I have to go to work now.


	29. Chapter 27

I want to take a nap. ;-;

–

Raven had sit down in a dirt hut earlier, to review these ideas she'd taken. This memory she'd reviewed about six times, and if she looked at it again, she was certain it would disintegrate. In the dimly lit room, she sat on the floor and began her normal meditation. When she pulled out the first memory, she was shocked, because her mind was suddenly twisted from a calm, mechanical process into a sea of lost colors.

The memory began in black, and for a moment, she'd fruitlessly wandered in the darkness before finding some soft pink light. In an almost morbid, sweet wonder, she stared at ribbons of blood-colored streaks flying through the air. BeastBoy's thinking was eccentric, but she immediately liked it, because there was something eloquent and pretty about the childlike simplicity of it. The pink light was soft, and she could see other colors in the air beginning to appear. There was a soft, bubbly warm feeling in her abdomen, and a strong ache in her loins. However, she also felt as though she may puke. A soft smile appeared in her mind, because she could put together these feelings. She remembered them from her own memories.

But then, Robin had said three horrid words and they echoed around the confine of her mind loudly and insensibly. Something painful had wrenched in her gut at that moment. The soft, sweet feeling was gone. The ribbons flying around her became liquid, and she felt sickeningly drenched in warm, maroon stickiness. Everything turned black and blue, and the light she was holding to guide herself flashed wildly with red and yellow and finally, it turned black. The pain in her stomach was annoying, but quite bearable.

Immersed in darkness, hot and wet with a blood that wasn't there, she waited, pushing a clump of sticky hair back. A soft pain beat on her chest, and her eyes began to hurt. With some foreign awareness, she realized that she was crying, and her nose hurt. BeastBoy was quick to tears, she thought, annoyed at the garbled words of her leader bounced around more quietly, and she felt a reptile take over, then a mammal. BeastBoy again, and she nearly fell as rainbows of a goth kid's dream made the world spin with color. Her hair painfully whipped at her face and neck, and she squinted to see what was going on. Crazy mixtures and slashes of red, black, and gray spun wildly, before explosions of fuchsia and yellow blinded her. If she'd actually been standing, she might have fallen in surprise. Holding her hair and guarding her eyes, she stared in wonderment at the explicit, raw emotion she was seeing. It was lovely, but only for moments. A sudden blueness appeared, and sucked everything away, and BeastBoy's voice quietly rumbled around her. There was an icy coldness that unpleasantly stung her.

She felt the dried not-blood on her skin move, and she tensed, pausing the memory. The Azarath sighed into the memory, and a warm wind blew on her in the nothing, calming her.

As the memory played again, she felt the uncomfortable sensation of scrubbing dried blood from her skin as it moved on her. A dark red light appeared around her, but it looked like indigo. She stared into it, confused. Her brain was interpreting something wrong, because the colors that were weren't connecting anymore. She knew it was dark red, but it looked blue. The ribbons of white and black above her were green and purple. She frowned. The memory was... Confused. That wasn't supposed to happen.

As she looked at the blue-but-really-red light again, there was some sense of painful longing in her to understand this confusion. That was all she could remember as her entire body began to burn.

White eyelids whipped open, and amethyst eyes were bright with tears that hadn't fallen. The hut was dim with the light of late afternoon, but she couldn't see that. She fell onto the dirt, scraping her thighs with rocks. She felt the world around her, the dirt under her fingers and the hot, sticky air of the jungly island.

Her eyes, though, saw her own body, covered in gaping slashes and gashes. Everywhere, blood continually poured and burned, and the blood wasn't real, because it turned to acid underneath her. She tried to close her eyes, but the gash on her forehead had bled into them, and she could see through her eyelids, anyways. She vomited quitely, a soft green bile bubbling at her lips and dripping on her chin and then legs before she finally woke up.

Tremulously, she got up, and went to clean off in the river.

–

As the sun simmered hotly behind the trees, fires were set up around camp. Raven stared idly into one, thinking about the memories she'd copied and stolen. They were faded, now, and she resisted the urge to look at them once more, because then they'd probably wear out and break down into absent thoughts. Starfire was sitting next to her, tan hand mashed into her cheek as she stared emptily into fire. BeastBoy was inside the tribal king's home, laying down because he'd felt ill. Cyborg had gone back to the jet to recharge. Robin was sleeping inside the leader's large hut as well, and hadn't woken for several hours. She wondered idly what would happen once he woke up.

"...of this?"

Raven glanced at her female teammate. "Huh?" she blurted distractedly.

"Would you like a taste of this?" the redhead said, offering a stick of hot, foreign meat on the end. Raven shook her head, but thanked her anyways.

"I've got some things to work out about what happened out here," she explained at Starfire's mild stare. Starfire shrugged.

"Robin and BeastBoy were chased by an animal, worn out and away from their resources. Then, BeastBoy fainted, and Robin was forced to carry him back because he is such a gentleman, and was bitten by a wretched little monster and became ill. Now they're fixing him with plants."

Raven stared at the Tamaranian.

'I think that's the most... coherent and sensible thing I've ever heard her say,' she thought.

"There's more to it than that," Raven said, remembering the clip of memory she'd taken. That one hadn't particularly made much sense. It was one of the emotional memories. She couldn't hear anything, but she could feel everything that BeastBoy had. There were pieces that you could almost hear or see, but they were always garbled and incoherent or fuzzy.

She shuddered, and patted Starfire's back. She pulled up one of the physical memories, one from a morning before the horrid memory, and it soothed her. This one she'd looked at only twice, and it was fresh.

BeastBoy's thinking was always colored. It was simple, but hard to read sometimes. Raven was used to thinking mechanically and with lots of words. His easy colors were exotic and challenging, but maddeningly simple. The soft pinky-yellow of lemonade made her mind brighter, and lovely swaths of bubbly warmth made her feel glittery and airy and soft. It was a sleep-memory, granted, and she was warm. Someone gave a damn in this memory, and the sweet, soft holding feeling comforted her as the sun set, and the nightmarish whirlwind of BeastBoy's mind faded. Raven felt her fingers intertwine with others, and didn't realize she was holding hands with Starfire until the night-singer stopped, and the campfires were all abandoned for huts.

–

Now... I must go nap. =w=


	30. I AM SO SORRY :C

About the hiatus, that was rudely unannounced and FAR TOO LONG:

OHMYGAWD I'M SORRY T_T.

Some... issues arose, and I harbored a Chinese abuse victim, and schoolwork completely kicked my face in, and the dear Chinamen (whom I really do love, those guys are just great, no sarcasm intended) have been working my tail off – literally, I think my coccyx is gone, guys. In addition to my Chinawork, I picked up the side job of writing schoolpapers for 10 dollars a page, so... (By the way: GENETICS IS HARD. If you have a lucrative essay-writing business, and have to write a 10-page, single spaced, pictures-don't-count scientific essay on a genetic disorder for a senior in college when you're just a sophomore... Even for 100$... DUN DO IT. It's self-murder. XuX)

Also, my dear sweet uncle is out of jail, and I'm soo happy!

Um...um...

THE HIATUS SHALL SOON END!

I..uh.. Finals are this week, and end on next Wednesday, and then I'll have a month off of school. During which, this story will be ended, and the sequel will begin. Because I thought of one that maaay work.

GBAAAWWW, I'm so sorry, gaiz. T_T

To anyone who may have made an action on the story, I will be PMing you in the near future to thank you.

/psa,

P.S., I love you.


	31. Chapter 28

Zomg, it has to have been at least a month. Two months. Three? Wait. No. Seven. I miss this story. ;-; Working 40 hours a week and maintaining As is harder than I remember.. *misses summer and living on campus* On the...flip side, I do have all As at the moment, and I have somewhere to live until March 8th, at the very least, so, uh. I just really hope I can get back into the... the mojo? Jojo? Of this fic. On the bright side...I have all As, yay? :'D

–

Raven stared out of the the jet window absently, clouds flying past her eyes as fast as thoughts flitting in her head. Her hood was down, and red hair was splayed in a wide semicircle from her shoulder to her breast. The Tamaranian breathed softly as she napped. After much persuasion, Raven had made the alien sit next to her, insisting that BeastBoy sitting with Robin would be more appropriate for many random, ill-thought out reasons. The purple-haired girl sighed, using her free arm to pinch the bridge of her nose. She had no idea what to do. Starfire seemed hopelessly clueless as to where she stood with Robin, and even more jealous that "that little green hoofenstil!" was spending so much time with him.

Oh, and Raven knew way too much about BeastBoy, and secondarily, Robin. Well, she couldn't exactly tell him she'd invaded his mind, even if it was for a possible greater good. Because it had only been a possibility. In the end, she'd ended up less knowing what she should do, rather than having a better idea of what needed to be done. She shuddered, remembering vaguely the illness the memories had given her, and felt a searing, quick pain explode in lines all over her. She clenched her fists. As an independent, smart woman, social science wasn't a strong point, and she was feeling helpless outside of a stupid... Love... Unfinished triangle with stupid broken lines and gnarled edges. She looked over her shoulder, towards the back.

Green fingers were intertwined with pale white ones, and a calloused green thumb gently stroked the white thumb. BeastBoy stared out of a small window near his seat. Robin's cheek was squashed on an ungloved hand, staring at the lower corner of the seat in front of him. He was dressed in a set of scrubs that were kept for emergencies on the plane. He was semi-coherent since they'd left, but wouldn't talk more than four or five words at a time, and usually only to the shapeshifter. Indigo eyes studied him for a moment. He looked up, and her head flicked front and center.

–

Cyborg yawned as the jet sailed smoothly into the hangar. He'd spent the last few hours in a locked cockpit, webchatting with his girlfriend. Even though he'd been a little occupied the last date-time, she'd totally understood, and agreed to go on a date with him this week. She'd even given him a little show promising what he might see later that week. He grinned at the memory, as the cockpit door unlocked and slid open. He frowned at the sleeping crowd of people, and proceeded to leave the jet. And then rock it as best he could without damaging it – which was actually pretty hard, since the custom-made jet was made of only the finest materials in the world.

Not fifty seconds later, four well-shaken, ruffled-looking teenagers tumbled out of the jet. Cyborg, feeling his job was done, dialed Titans East and clunked off. He could use a good recharge, and maybe a round of Call of Booty: Modern Whorefare before he hit the sack. Maybe Speedy and Aqualad would join his team and they could get higher Pimp-stige...

Starfire looked out of the corner of her eye enviously as Raven pulled her into the tower. BeastBoy was getting something out of the cargo compartment, and Robin was waiting on him. Robin used to wait on _her_. Her ears flushed with emotion, and then the door cut off her line of sight.

"Come on," Raven said, tugging the orange arm lightly.

"It's not fair!"

Raven's face didn't change, and she tugged Starfire to the hallways. "Come on. We'll sort.. All that out later, okay?"

"What do you mean?" Starfire asked, annoyed, "I want to know now. Why is he so... Sticky to that little green booger? Why did he sit with him? Why won't he see me? Why will he talk to _him_ and not _me_!" A green bolt shot from her hand into the wall.

Cyborg immediately poked his head out of the gaping, smoking hall. He opened his mouth to shout, but glowing, angry eyes snapped the jaws shut and he retreated.

Raven spun and looked at her.

"You need to calm down and sort out your thoughts. Look," Raven said, staring firmly at the redhead. The other girl turned her head, and the glow left them. "_Look,_" Raven reiterated.

"If you sort everything out, and try to come up with an argument instead of," Raven looked at the still-smoking, brand-new doorway, "Instead of arguing with all this extra rage, it will be more effective."

Starfire's eyes ceased glowing, but she still had an angry expression.

Raven pulled her along, towards their wing of the tower. "It'll be easier to think it all out. Plus, Robin's probably beyond embarrassed – you know he can't handle looking weak, and that spiderbite pushed him to rock bottom. He couldn't feed himself, communicate, and for the first day, couldn't even walk."

Starfire frowned deeply, and solemnly replied, "You're right, friend Raven. As usual."

"Do you want to meditate with me?" the violet-haired girl offered earnestly. "I think it'll help."

The floating alien nodded, but glanced back towards the boys' wing longingly. "Yes," she said lowly, sadly. "I think it will help."

–

Robin walked silently next to BeastBoy towards their rooms. They hadn't talked more than maybe 20 words since Robin had been better, and the silence was tense instead of relaxing. BeastBoy stopped at his room, because he had more bags than Robin, and set one down so he could open the door. He walked into the dark room, and set some of the bags down. Robin followed him. Neither of the boys heard the soft, nearly inaudible clicking of two SladeBots as they skittered into the room and hid. BeastBoy turned on a couple of lava lamps, and Robin dropped the bags he was carrying, and stuffed his hands into his pockets. The black-haired boy looked around the room, and the awkward silence... Well, it was awkward. Stiflingly so.

"I, uh," BeastBoy started, "M'sorry." His voice was quiet, and scratchy. He itched at his nose, a nervous habit.

Robin coughed. "Yep."

There was more silence, and BeastBoy sat on his bed, and kicked off his shoes. The Boy Wonder stared thoughtlessly at a lava lamp, hands in his pockets.

"Do you mean what you said? Before you ran off?" he finally asked, turning his head to the shapeshifter.

–

Uwahh~~, the end.


	32. Chapter 29

I dunno why there was a hiatus. I mean, this is... One, two, three chapters from being over. You should hit me.

–

BeastBoy didn't reply, picking absently at his bedsheets.

"You should get some rest," he said finally, "The uh, guy, said it might be a little longer before you got all the way better."

Robin walked over to BeastBoy's twin bed, sitting next to him. "Yup," the boy wonder said boldly, crawling to the side close to the wall. He plopped his head down on the pillow. BeastBoy gave his leader a cockeyed look at an angle.

"What? I'm resting," Robin said indignantly, cuddling into the comforter.

The green-eyed boy shook his head, grinning. "Okay, well, I'm going to go take a shower. That stream water, well, I feel a little mucky and ugly and muddy."

Robin shrugged. "Alright, well, I'll be here. In your bed. And stuff."

"I think you're still a little poisoned," BeastBoy said, almost grinning at the out-of-character attitude of his leader. Pink bubbles stirred in his stomach, but he ignored them as well as he could as he grabbed some boxers, a T-shirt, and some sweatpants.

"Take your time," Robin called as the door to the bathroom closed and locked. When the water started, he rolled off the bed, and stood. A SladeBot watched him kneel and look into the bookcase. His scrubs rustled softly as he reached forward and grabbed a well-worn journal. He flipped close to the end, admiring the script. The pages weren't dated, but the ink was colored on some pages.

'Hm. They go from a plain black, to green, to blue, to red...' Robin noticed, flipping pages and not reading them yet.

He started at a black entry, near the middle.

"Augh, this is so immature. I'm immature. I feel so bad all the time, it sucks major hardcore. I keep trying new ways to repress it, and I think I found a path that kind of works. It helps. I can sleep at night when I do it, sometimes I can sleep for almost a week if I do it right. I feel so good when I do it."

The penning had switched to orange.

"It's like, amazing, for just a little while. I feel really good about myself. Like I'm becoming more normal. It's some kind of rush, to feel all of that hatred and nastiness flooding out. It doesn't last long, but it's so good that it just keeps me going."

Robin flipped a page or two. He didn't want to read that any more. No black. Orange seemed happier, though, even if.. In that case.. It had been a bad good feeling. The next one was a blue and green set of pages. He started at the blue on the left.

"I'm kind of lonely lately. Flirting with Raven used to help, but it doesn't seem to any more. I dunno. And Cyborg.. He's always talking to Bee. I mean like, always. We never hang out any more.. I really feel this gap growing between us. I mean, it's so weird. We used to be close, but.. Eh. And I feel it with Robin, too."

Green ink took over.

"Ever since him and Star started dating, maaan. I don't know what it is. It's just this weird sick feeling. And I know we're growing apart. We were never close anyways, but it's worse now. I'll admit, something-"

Robin stopped reading that entry, out of guilt. He flipped around some more, but the water stopped. He closed the journal and put it exactly where he'd found it, and stealthily slid back onto the covers, hands behind his head as he pretended to rest his eyes. The door of the bathroom opened, and BeastBoy tossed his dirty clothes into a hamper in the corner.

He plodded over to his bed, poking Robin in the stomach.

"Dude?"

Robin opened one masked eye. "Yes?"

"Wanna order some Chinese? And..you... Smell odd, no offense," BeastBoy grabbed a menu from the top of the dresser.

Robin got up, and rifled through a bag he'd dropped on the floor. There were some clean casuals in it, and he said he'd take a shower.

"Uh, the food?" BeastBoy asked, waving the menu.

"Oh," Robin said. He realized he was hungry. "Yeah, just... Uh, General Tso's with fried rice and an eggroll and some cream cheese wontons and some soda and some pan-fried dumplings and-"

"Okay, so, the whole menu?"

Robin grinned. "Well, I've been spoon fed beetle powder pudding for like, ever. I'm starving."

BeastBoy nodded, grinning to himself. "Alright, clean up, I'm ordering food."

–

Less than an hour later, BeastBoy and Robin sat in BeastBoy's room, eating vegetable dumplings, fried rice, hot & spicy tofu with mushrooms, and various other dishes while they played Battleship.

"E9!"

"Aww, man, that was my destroyer!"

"Fuahaha!"

BeastBoy used his chopsticks to stuff a chunk of fried tofu smothered in Sriracha sauce into Robin's mouth.

The black-haired boy swallowed hurriedly.

"Blah! Ack!" he started coughing, and reached for his soda. "Fwah! Damn!"

In ten seconds, the soda was gone.

"That stuff is hot!"

BeastBoy grinned. "Eh. A7."

"Damn! That's the last of my ships," Robin groaned.

BeastBoy smiled triumphantly, popping a mushroom into his mouth. He hadn't had this much fun in a really long time. He felt completely pink and silver. Nothing could kill his mood, honestly. Robin looked at his teammate, grinning, and honestly, it made him feel like his heart was soaring. It looked totally real. Not like before this whole jungle escapade, or the night he'd told Gar that he was picking him to go to the islands. It was like... Way before, but newer. Better.

"So," he said, plucking out the tips of plastic and the ships from the gameboard.

"So," BeastBoy replied, still smiling.

Robin shook his head, cleaning up the game. He'd wait. "So... You wanna watch a movie?"

"Nah," BeastBoy said, squeezing the lid back onto his tofu dish. "I kind of just want to lay down."

"Both, maybe? I'll let you pick the movie."

BeastBoy thought.

"Eh, okay. Umm... How about The Good, The Bad, and The Weird?"

Robin shrugged. "Aight."

–

That movie is totally awesome. Maybe it's just growing up on IJ and westerns, combined with the whole yellow fever... But Asian cowboys are the sexx0rz. C: Until next time!


	33. Chapter 30

It's me again! Uh-oh, right? Right.

So, sriracha chicken is the best. C:

–

Raven flipped the page of the book she was reading carefully. Starfire was asleep, cradled under her arm. It hadn't taken too long to subdue the Tamaranian, but reading like this was kind of hard. She closed the book. A nap never hurt anyone, and it was kind of late. Maybe she could just sleep for the night.

Pale fingers absently stroked and curled themselves around fiery strands of hair, and Raven contemplated inwardly what had been becoming of her lately. The nearly 20-year old girl had had everything figured out. And suddenly, everything turned upside down on her inwardly. She wasn't reading people right, red flags were going up and she was missing them, and there was this phrase popping up over and over in her mind - "Insufficient data." - that she couldn't place, even through contemplation. She thought and thought and thought in circles until she just couldn't think any more, and drowsed off.

–

BeastBoy watched the gunfight intently. Robin had his arm wrapped around the tough green shoulders, and was absently stroking the bared scars. BeastBoy healed fast, but those stripes may last a lifetime.

'He'll never be able to wear short sleeves again,' Robin mused unpleasantly. His arms tingled.

Robin looked up at three men, laying on the ground, dying. The movie was nearly over. Masked eyes glanced to the right, at the nightstand. The clock blinked 10:47 PM.

"I should go," he said quietly, as the credits began to roll.

BeastBoy looked at him, irises moving slightly as he tried to read the older boy's face. He pulled the blanket at his waist up some, and turned more onto his side, to face Robin.

"Do you have to?" he asked, quietly, staring at him intently.

"I, uh," Robin said, suddenly flustered. Damn those big, green eyes!

BeastBoy fiddled with the sleeve of Robin's tee.

"We've been sleeping next to each other for over a week, and, um," BeastBoy was suddenly embarrassed. "Aherm. I uh."

A gunshot at the end of the credits startled both of them from an otherwise awkward silence, and they both laughed.

"It got comfortable," Robin said, rubbing the back of his neck.

BeastBoy crawled out of the bed, walking over to the TV.

"Yeah," he agreed, "It was, uh, nice." A green thumb mashed into a little button, and the room was suddenly dark, save for one pink lava lamp.

"Well, if you want-"

"No, uh, it's okay, do whatever you want, man. Doesn't bother me. Heh," BeastBoy felt his way back to the bed, his eyes adjusting to the barely-there light.

"Anything I want?"

BeastBoy crawled back under the warm covers. "Well, uh, try to keep it PG-13, man," he joked, and laughed a little nervously.

Robin moved around, laying on his back. "Uh," he said awkwardly.

The pair jostled around for a minute or two, trying to get comfortable and not feel awkward at the same time. Finally, they were laying on their backs, arm to arm, flat.

And it was quite, quite awkward.

"So, BeastBoy," Robin said, staring at the ceiling.

"So, Robin," was the breathy reply. BeastBoy felt his heart beat harder. He enjoyed a curious, silky feeling fluttering in his stomach.

"You never answered my question, you know, earlier."

BeastBoy rolled onto his side, facing Robin.

"Ow! Owow!" Robin exclaimed, wriggling.

BeastBoy leaned up quickly. "Oh, sorry! I, here," he moved around, floundering.

"Better?"

"Yeah, uh. What were you saying?"

There was a pause. Robin could see a faint pinkish outline of BeastBoy's head. For the first time in a long time, he felt butterflies in his stomach. No, no. It was manlier than that. Dragonflies.

"Yeah," was all that came out. Suddenly BeastBoy's mouth was cotton-dry. "I like you, Uh."

Robin leaned forward, and their noses bumped.

Robin kissed the corner of BeastBoy's mouth – not what he was aiming for, but-

BeastBoy tilted his head to the left, and kissed the Boy Wonder full on the lips.

–

Smiiiilles~. C:


	34. Chapter 31

Almost done. C:

–

"Hwah!" THUNK.

There was a loud rippling of covers as they flailed and were swept onto the floor with a sturdy teenage body. BeastBoy winced into the wall at the sudden loss of warm covers, and pulled his lithe, little arms into his T-shirt. Robin, however, twitched on the floor. Twin beds were really too damned small. The teenage superhero got up slowly, rubbing his back. Through the pale film of his mask, he eyed the clock. 6:38 AM.

He crawled back into the warm bed, yanking the covers back up and over himself and his bed-mate. A strong, pale arm wrapped around BeastBoy's elbow, and he pressed the length of his body against the younger man's. Robin closed his eyes, nuzzling into the comfortable, frizzy bristly bush that was BeastBoy's hair.

"Hmm!" came a pleased, half-awake murmur, and BeastBoy's arm came out of his tee, petting Robin's forearm softly.

Five minutes later, the alarm went off for 7 o'clock training.

–

Starfire threw all of her starbolts on-target, but a little too ferociously. Raven told her so. The redhead lightened up her attacks, but her tight-lipped expression didn't change much.

Cyborg set a new record for hacking a system, but then Robin pointed out he'd done the same code last week. Cyborg shrugged it off, saying that Robin's kicks were a little off-center today. And he was right about that.

Raven and BeastBoy sparred across the roof.

"You're changing too slowly," she shouted at him, the barest hint of a grin poking at her face. She stifled it, and it dissipated completely when he got a right hook in.

"Yeah, and your magic's a bit on the wavery end today!"

She gave him a strong kick to the stomach.

"Unf!"

And pinned him to the ground under her boot.

"It's not magic, BeastBoy," she growled, "You know better than that."

A loud 'ding' from a clock stationed in the middle of the practice field made all of the Titans stop.

Raven helped BeastBoy up. Starfire landed, her feet slamming into the ground cracking it. Cyborg cracked his knuckles. Robin turned off the dinging clock.

"So... Breakfast?" he said, grinning at his teammates.

Cyborg was immediately gone from sight. BeastBoy approached Starfire, talking with her as they went downstairs. Well, talking at her. Still upset, she wasn't looking at him and her face was pulled into a frown. Raven hung back, watching the second-oldest Titan picking up some stray practice materials.

"So," she said, picking up a broken ceramic plate chip that Starfire had broken from her target array.

"Hm?" the black-haired boy looked at her as he re-tied a punching bag to its stand. "Something up?"

Raven picked up another piece of plate. "You and BeastBoy," she said slowly. Darkness encased the ceramic shards, and they floated up to the ceiling, where their other halves waited.

"Oh. Yeah."

"Are you going to tell Starfire, or..." the violet-eyed girl concentrated on binding the ceramic plates back together.

From the corner of her eye, she saw him scratching his head. "Well, yeah," he drawled. "I mean, it would be wrong to both of them if I didn't."

She didn't say anything, but he knew she agreed with him. As the oldest members – and the first two – Raven and Robin had a tender kind of friendly relationship. He'd been interested in her when they first met, but it hadn't lasted long. She hadn't been interested. Still wasn't.

"Need help?" she offered, staring up at the fixed ceramic plates. There was a dark brown line running along the line where the beige plates had been fixed.

There was a silence, hanging in the air tensely between them. The lights buzzed softly.

"Nah," he finally pushed out, "I better do it myself. You know."

Raven shrugged, and started walking to the door. "Yeah," she said, almost as quietly as her cape that softly swished along the floor.

–

Downstairs, BeastBoy had finally made Starfire smile. He was just working on a laugh, now... Greenish eyes watched him carefully tiptoe towards Cyborg, balancing the tofu and orange juice juust so..

"BeastBoy! Put that-"

The tofu-orange juice tower slipped from surprised, gloved fingers. Mid-forkful, Cyborg was drenched in vitamin-C and protein-enriched tofu. Calmly, he looked at BeastBoy, who had shrunk immediately against the counter.

"You ruined my bacon pancake with sausage and maple syrup on eggs and steak."

BeastBoy shook his head wildly from left to right, pointing at Raven, who held her head in her hand.

"No way! I was gonna balance it on your egg-like head! Raven distracted me! SACRIFICE HER TO YOUR COMPUTER GOD FIRST."

And then, there was a scrambling of feathers as a green bird attempted to get out of the kitchen. Cyborg leapt up, but slipped on the squishy, orange-and-white mess around him a fell with a loud flump on the tile floor.

"BEAST BOYYYYY!" He shouted angrily, slipping and falling loudly as he tried to get his heavy hulking self up. Starfire finally laughed. From the shadows of her hood, Raven smiled at the sound. Of Starfire laughing – not Cyborg and BeastBoy's angry-scared, cat-mouse game that had shifted to the living room. Since last week at the mall, she hadn't heard that sound _once_ – a record for the Tamaranian, who was almost always in high spirits.

Pale fingers reached for the cabinet containing all of her tea. Robin walked in, took one look at the mess, and sighed. He grabbed a box of cereal and started eating it like popcorn.

"You seem in a good mood," he said to his girlfriend. She looked at him, the smile fading some.

"Yes," she said slowly, "Robin, I -"

Raven cussed as she spilled some hot water on her leg.

The redhead immediately got up from where she was sitting, eying Raven's reddening thigh. "Raven! Are you alright?"

The violet-haired girl grimaced a grin and forced a "Never been better!" as she turned and finished making her tea.

Starfire looked at her last-night roommmate wearily.

"Starfire, can I, uh," Robin stuttered, suddenly at a loss for words.

Green eyes glanced at him. He was almost shocked at the indiscernible expression. Starfire was a book, always easy to read. But, suddenly, he... Couldn't?

Almost instantly, the eyes flicked to Raven. "Friend Raven," Starfire said softly, "Sit, I'll bring you some burn salve from the resting room."

Raven turned back around, biting her lower lip fiercely. A crash resounded as Cyborg shot his cannon at a green blur. "Thanks," she mustered, sitting down with a mug of hot water, tea steeping.

The redhead got up, and flashed away. In a moment, she had returned. Detachedly, Robin watched his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend kneel in a syrupy, tofuy mess and apply aloe to the swelling redness. Wheels in his head slowly churned as he thought about other things.

When his eyes flickered up into amethyst ones, it made sense. This would be easy. No problem. Starfire would be alright. It would all be okay. Suddenly, his jitters were completely gone, and as Starfire stood, he almost cheerily told her that it was over.

–

Uwaaahh~ I meant to put this up last week...oops.


	35. Chapter 32

So, it's been two semesters since I worked on this. Why, you ask?

Why did I stop when I was so close to the end?

I ask myself the same question.

–

Starfire's face dropped from complacent to confused, then her eyes filled up with tears. In a blast of green light and plaster rainfall, she was gone. Robin looked up at the ceiling. Er, the gaping hole in it.

Raven looked at her tea intently. Maybe the soothing spell was a little.. Too strong..

Robin blinked twice as the spell lifted. Immediately, the realization of what had just happened occurred to him. With the spin of a boot, he turned, opened the refrigerator door, and stuck his head into it, and beat his head with the door, attempting to squish out any remaining fragments of brain.

"Er, Robin?" Cyborg asked, as he held a bedraggled dog by its scruff. "Everything okay?"

The black-haired boy looked at the older teen, taking pause of his ritual brain removal.

"Yes."

"You...Want this dog?"

Robin looked at the limp green dog, and took it. Suddenly, a green monkey came to life, and scuttled behind the superhero's shoulder. It screeched loudly.

Cyborg looked up at the hole in the ceiling. He looked at Robin. He looked at the hole in the ceiling. He looked at Robin. Muttering something about crazy aliens and white people, he stalked off to go get his tools. BeastBoy hopped off of Robin's back, and his boots, not monkey paws, stuck to the ground less than a millisecond later.

"Uh.. What was that all about?" the changeling asked, as he nervously picked up a piece of drywall and examined it.

Robin looked at Raven, who stared at her tea. She swirled it innocently with her mind, but her demeanor gave away her guilt in the matter.

"It was only supposed to make it a little easier," she said, as she resisted the urge to poke a piece of hair back into place. Robin stared at her without saying anything. He hit himself in the forehead.

"A...little easier?" BeastBoy stole a hopeful glance at his leader.

Raven stood up, barely grimacing at the burn on her thigh. "Yes. Easier."

Robin sat down, and cradled his head in his hands. "But.. But I said it all chirpy-like, it was like I didn't even care! She's a team member, and..She's a she, and stuff, so I should've handled it more delicately."

Raven set down her glass of tea. "I'll go find her."

She hooded herself, and flew through the hole in the tower. Raven had an idea of where the alien girl had gone.

BeastBoy put his hand on his leader's shoulder.

"It wasn't technically your fault," he offered. When he got no response, he sighed and began to clean up the mess they – well, mostly he – had made.

This one was already half-written, so.. I just added a bit. Anyways, there's about three to four left – for realsies this time. And it will be posted before I go back to school – This Thursday, January the 12, 2012.

I swear on my pet fish, Sushi.


	36. Chapter 33

Three days left! And if I sounded excited about this story being complete, I am. But not because "Phew, I'm done with it, gah, I hate it."

–

Raven heard the sound of sniffling coming from inside one of the caves in the old training grounds on the outskirts of town. It was where they had trained Terra for a short while. The dark-haired girl passed old scars in the rocks where the blond had torn them apart, and others where a SonicBlast had cut into the rock. Starbolt scars and small cuts where Robin's boomerangs had scarred the brownish earth littered the place. She found the opening of a cave where the muffled cries came from. With a soft pat, her feet touched the earth. She walked into the cave to find her teammate.

"Starfire?"

"Go away, please!"

Raven followed the sound of the alien's voice. She found the Tamaranian sitting on a rock, head between her knees. One gray hand pulled back her hood. There was a small puddle of tears between the purple boots, which looked lackluster in the dank shadows of the cave.

"Starfire," Raven started, suddenly at a lack of words. 'It's not the end of the world'? No. 'Everything happens for a reason?' No.

The Azarath girl settled for no words, and instead put her hand on a warm, orange shoulder. She felt goosebumps under her fingertips.

"You must have seen this coming," Starfire squeezed out, miserably.

Raven bit her tongue. She kind of did, but not until it was a little bit too late.

"I didn't foresee you tearing the Tower a new one," was all she could think to say. She felt the redhead slump a little deeper, as impossible as it seemed. "But," Raven started again, or tried to, "Is it really that bad? You and Robin make great friends. Great teammates."

Starfire lifted her head, and looked at Raven with big, sullen eyes. It looked off on her. Raven used a thumb to wipe away some tears. "Besides," Raven continued, "We're a team. We stick together. You'll always have him, you know, because there are some bonds that can't be broken."

Starfire seemed to accept that idea. "I guess," she said, and took a deep breath. "I guess it's not so bad. It felt worse when he wouldn't come out about it."

Raven patted her on the back.

"But," she continued, "It was nice to have someone to make me feel special, and to hold my hand, and to kiss, and just be.. Be like a normal person, I guess."

Raven wrapped an arm around her teammate. "Those things are nice," she agreed, although inwardly she noted it was only nice in some situations and to certain extents, "But if that's all it was for, then it wasn't that important. It was just like another teddy bear, except life-sized and warm."

"And it sometimes talked back and made funny noises," Starfire added.

"Listen," Raven began, a little awkwardly, "Normally, I wouldn't be so nice, but.. But if you get lonely at night, or want to meditate with me, or.. Just come see me, okay?"

Starfire stared at her roommate. It was more than a small deal to have access to Raven at night, let alone anytime. At that moment, she decided she needed her friend more than any boy or plaything for kisses and normalcy. Her tears had mostly dried. She gave Raven a soft peck on the corner of her gray mouth, more a thank-you for everything that had happened in the last week, and especially in the last ten minutes.

A rock exploded outside of the cave.

–

Having finished mopping up the orange tofu juice mess, BeastBoy sat down to a real breakfast; rice soup with sweet potatoes and some pickled radishes with a glass of soy milk. Robin picked at a bowl of cornflakes and bananas. Above them, Cyborg busied himself with the hole in the ceiling. Robin still felt bad about what had happened, but it was beginning to fade away, now.

"So," BeastBoy drawled, slurping down the last bit of his rice, "What to do today? I think there's been a serious lack of TV in the last week, who's game for a That 70s Show marathon, hmm?"

Robin, hand mashing his cheek into his eye, stared at his new.. Em, boyfriend? Significant other? What did they call them these days? Eh. Didn't matter. He stared at Garfield Logan; HIS Garfield Logan.

"Maybe," Cyborg commented around the wrench in his mouth, "I gotta go get some more drywall and plaster."

The changeling rolled his eyes. "Well, I'll be playing a vidya game, then.." He got up and cleared his dishes, but didn't wash them. As he passed his leader, he gave him a pat on the shoulder. Starfire would be fine.

Inwardly, he felt a rush of fiery orange and yellows and pinks swirling in a wild, kaleidoscopic sunrise of excitement. He felt a tinge of badness, guilt at Starfire's loss. He wasn't thinking too much about it, but let himself bask in the good feelings as he flopped onto the couch and stretched for his DS. Which, unfortunately, was three feet away, much further than his maximum stretching length. He sighed, and rolled over to get up.

To his surprise, an orangey-colored hand picked it up before he could even get off the couch. Starfire turned the game on, and handed it to him with the trace of a smile playing on her face. He felt bad now, as she gave him that little, melancholy smile, and he felt his world crash down around him.

He was about to apologize, but she beat him to it.

"I'm sorry," she said,and instinctively, her hand rose to the back of her head, where a sudden itch had formed, "For being so rude and jealous to you lately."

BeastBoy flopped for a moment, "Uh, no," he stammered, "It's okay." He paused after that. He couldn't exactly just blurt, 'Sorry for stealing your boyfriend' or anything like that. "Sorry for, being distant. But it's okay, really, you didn't mean anything by it, right?"

Starfire nodded.

What came out of her mouth next surprised him to the extent that he fell over sideways onto the couch, wondering what was wrong with the world. And she had bent to say it to him, almost menacingly.

"I'm also sorry for stealing your lifelong crush, BeastBoy, and for taking so long to do it. I'm afraid Raven is mine."

"E...Eh?"

Then Starfire started to laugh.

"I'm joking, friend BeastBoy!" The Tamaranian engulfed him in a hug. "Do you want to watch the show of prior decades? I like Eric."

BeastBoy felt more at peace, and he grabbed the remote. Things... Looked brighter.

–

Because I didn't like the last chapter very much, but hey, it was already there and stuff.


	37. Chapter 34

Doobali doobali doo.

Teen Titans isn't mine.

'bout done here.

–

Slade typed in a command on one of his computers. Almost immediately, most of the Bots he had sent for reconnaissance of the Titans, specifically, Robin, and later, BeastBoy, returned. A new set, only two this time, had already been dispatched to the Tower. They had already deftly hidden themselves in the Boy Wonder's and BeastBoy's rooms.

After about four hours, all of the little machines that had returned were inactive, sitting on a clear, glass table. They were aligned by person and content. In all, there were seven of the original 9. Slade wouldn't bother with Cyborg's or Raven's. He only looked at the first few gigabytes of Starfire's file. In the other two boys', however, he spent a lot of time examining, taking notes, and plotting. Although Robin had given in last time, he was still too uncontrollable. He wanted to control the little brat and put him in his place. Such an inconvenient thing, free will and teamwork and friendship and all that mumbo jumbo.

Tirelessly, like the machine he knew he was, Slade combed through every minute he'd missed of his study, most of which had occurred the week before last in the Galapagos. Although he'd been able to keep some tabs, the information had not been complete. The information he had now, though, was very pleasing to him.

He stood. He locked all of his files away. He picked up his notebook, reading through his most recent information, and reviewing the plot it had inspired in his mind.

Slade left his hideaway, and set off to begin the preparations.

Short.

Needs more vodka.


	38. Chapter 35

Cigarettes and vodka.

Don't smoke or drink, kids.

TT, not mine, or else it'd be back on the air.

Robin stirred. The tower was quiet. Raven and Starfire had gone out again. They had been spending a lot of time together since the breakup, and even moreso lately. Cyborg had gone to meet BumbleBee for a date in Johnston, a city midway of Titans East and Titans West. He looked at green hair, and felt Garfield Logan's stomach gently moving as he breathed. He decided he could lay on the couch a little longer, and stared up at the TV screen. The movie had returned to the Main Menu screen.

Careful not to wake Gar up, he maneuvered ever-so-cleverly to get at his mini-computer. It wasn't a netbook, it was more like a smartphone, really.

In the past nine months, almost nothing had come up from Slade. Not a single blip. No one was working for him. Actually, crime had dropped dramatically. It was like everyone was on vacation. Sure, about once a month they'd get a little busy, but otherwise.. It had been better. Crime low, it was always better. But still.. It bothered Robin. Slade usually had something to say or scheme every four months, at least. This nine, going on ten month hiatus was... Really out of character.

However, for the the rest of his team, he took it as a small blessing. As he absently sorted through some old files, checked his email (spam and nothing flaggable as good intel), he thought about the last few months. As he had promised himself, before Speedy's crazy mission, he had taken the Titans on a one-week vacation in Gotham. That had been in February. They'd stayed from the 12th to the 18th, while Bee – and Cyborg, actually – had watched over Jump City. Cyborg had considered it a better vacation if he could have his car, his 'boo', and unlimited TV time. Gizmo, Jinxy, and Mammoth had actually stepped up, too, but they worked their own way. But, Gar, the girls, and himself had enjoyed staying with The Batman for a week.

He slid some files around into a better arrangement. No Slade, so little work. Just intel from sources, and there was none. He was able to find Slade right now as he was able to find a needle in a haystack.

It was getting close to fall again. Absently, he stroked his boyfriend's – he had gotten kind of used to the term, now – hair. It felt good under his fingers. He opened up a game on his phone. In the last months, he'd begun to be less intense. Sometimes he still stayed up late, obsessed with what Slade was doing, and he still trained vigorously. However, he'd taken advantage of the calm in the whirlwind of being a hero. He had gone on dates – he didn't call them that, neither did Gar, but that is what they were – without worrying. He'd left the city for a week, and would admit that he had gone on a 'real date' on Valentine's day. He had spent time with his teammates, he'd learned from his mentor, he'd... Actually gotten a lot of things done without Slade torturing him.

The red bird exploded on the screen, and he grinned. He was good at that game. He got an extra ten thousand points for the birds he hadn't used.

It had been almost a year since he and Garfield had spent their week together. From day they had come back, they had slept in the same bed. They did everything else separately, but they slept together every night. They hadn't done anything but sleep in the bed. Well. Okay. They kissed. Sometimes they kissed a lot. But it hadn't gone farther than that, and Robin knew they were both comfortable that way. He had, of course, being nearly 19, thought about it. A lot. Neither of them had talked about it. They had, however, talked about the scars.

Robin frowned, and BeastBoy moved a little. He'd missed his mark completely.

Garfield had stopped doing that.

When he wore a short-sleeved shirt when they went to go see a movie a few weeks ago, people had looked at him curiously. The 17 year old wasn't embarrassed of it. They were marks of feeling. The stripes were a part of him, really, he had said, as he and Robin sat alone in his room one night. He was only wearing a pair of boxers, and Robin had been wearing his favorite pajama pants.

He remembered the twist he'd felt in his stomach, the dull snapping of faith in his heart. He remembered his speechlessness, and the straight line his mouth had firmly in place, and he remembered the wetness on his face as Garfield had explained himself. He hadn't been ashamed to cry then, and although no one but Gar knew, he wasn't ashamed of it today, either.

The green pig exploded. No extra points.

The stripes were a memory of when it had been bad. All the things that had happened. All the ideas he had had. All the fallacies and delusions he'd had, consummated from a mental to physical apparition. It was a memory that was wrong.

There was something to hold onto, now, for the both of them. The mental ploys and personal retribution for what he was born with, and the tormentor that caused him sleepless nights and betrayal of his beliefs and friends. They could shed those old things. They had what they needed, even if they hadn't known; that was exactly what they needed.

Robin exploded all the pigs on the next puzzle with a single bird, and moments later, a green Labrador was licking his face.

–

My god, the world is spinning. I feel like I'm going to fall into the computer.

Also... How does a short fic about their week in Gotham sound? I may do that – and/or something else before I -/shot


	39. Chapter 36

-hums-

–

BeastBoy looked at himself in the mirror after he got out of the shower. He touched some of his old scars, tracing the outline of his body. In the past year, he had become more and more comfortable with himself. He didn't have to use makeup to cover up circles under his eyes anymore. He didn't look wiry. He couldn't see the bones under his chest; his figure had filled out to a more normal size. He didn't mind the other Titans seeing his scars, although it had initially caused some shock when he'd shown the others. He'd worn a tank top to training one morning.

He slipped on a pair of black silk boxers, and then his new pair of pajama pants – they were soft, cotton-polyester pants – that were a dark shade of purple. The contrast made his skin look brighter.

Recently, he'd had a small problem. It wasn't really a problem, more of a desire, he mentally corrected himself the first time he'd thought of it. He and the Boy Wonder were officially a 'thing', and they had been falling asleep together when it happened. It hadn't kept him awake long, but he was still awake after Robin had fallen asleep. He'd rolled over a bit, and looked at the mask of the sleeping guy next to him. He wondered what color Robin's eyes were as he lightly touched the teen's shoulder, tracing the musculature down to the hand resting on his own hip.

He was certain that this feeling he had was not just admiration, but appreciation, and he knew it wasn't infatuation, it was a genuine cherishing. He was, at that moment, more certain that he was in love with the older boy in his bed.

That had been only a week or so ago, and, although he knew he loved Robin, and (was relatively certain) that Robin loved him back, he had wanted to consummate that love with a final step, of sorts, the bounds of the flesh from which they had constricted their beings as two separate people. He wanted, well, he didn't really know what he wanted, but the flashes of color and wild wind in his mind and heart told his body what he wanted. He had considered that idea, that colorful, rushing want of his physical being, and his mind decided that it wanted that, too.

And tonight, he would act on that desire.

With a shaky breath, he ran a hand through his hair. It had already mostly dried, and was soft and bristly and thick under his bare hand. He opened the door, and went into his bedroom. Robin was lounging on the bed. The Boy Wonder had already taken a shower in his own quarters, and was wearing his black-and-red pajama pants. Without Slade around, he'd loosened up a lot. He was addicted to Furious Fowl, and was concentrating on his screen, carefully plotting the trajectory of his next bird.

It was 9:48.

BeastBoy sat on the bed's corner, and Robin looked up at him, smiled a little, and finished up his level. They always laid down around 10, and chatted for about thirty minutes, but sometimes more – up to four or five hours, if there was no training the next day – but tonight, BeastBoy nervously thought, and hoped, that there wouldn't be much idle chat.

The only light on was the lamp sitting atop the nightstand, next to the alarm clock.

The changeling scooted onto the bed more, patiently waiting for Robin to finish his game, and sat in an Indian-style manner.

"Hey," Robin said, finally, and turned off the light of his mini-computer. He leaned over to put the device on the bedstand, and BeastBoy was struck again by the fluidity of muscles under the pale, but healthy-looking skin, as they moved with suck a simple movement. "What's up? You look a little nervous."

BeastBoy shrugged. "Nothing, I've just been thinking lately."

"About...?" Robin said, and pulled his knees up to rest his elbows on them.

Surprisingly, he couldn't think of a joke to tell.

He smiled. He was nervous. But that was okay. "Can I have a kiss?"

The Boy Wonder grinned. "Of course, Gar." He moved himself forward, onto his knees, and gave his boyfriend a little kiss on the corner of his mouth.

The nervousness rose and dipped, and BeastBoy felt his hand snake its way to Robin's neck, and pulled him closer for a more passionate kind of kiss.

–

-continues humming-


	40. Chapter 37

-eats a bagel-

Not really. These are Doritos.

It had been a year and a month since Slade's last activity. It made Robin a little nervous sometimes, but none of his intel had shown any signs of the man or his lackies whatsoever. Nothing. Although it would be good for the world, it wasn't as good a sentence as the man deserved if he'd just died. Robin really expected Slade to go out with a bang, not just slip out of the world, like the ocean tide.

But, he was happy. He'd decided that, for Christmas and New Years, they'd take a break from Jump City. Things got boring here. Since Slade was gone, and crime had dropped so severely, they had only been doing a little crime-fighting in the city, and had been on a few international and national stints when it occurred. Usually he'd be bored by that, but he had something else to focus on, now.

They'd be leaving tomorrow to go to Bruce's mansion in Gotham. Bee was coming with them this time. Starfire and Raven were always together. Robin hadn't decided what that meant yet. They didn't act out of the ordinary, so he shouldn't assume... But they were much closer now than they had ever been. He felt a slight divide in the team sometimes, but when they all got together for dinner, movie night, whatever, they always connected. It was probably just in his head.

He stretched, his bones popping. Most of his favorite things were packed up for their planned week away, so he just donned some old North Playground sleep pants, the characters patterned randomly on the fabric. The black-haired boy opened the door to his bedroom, when suddenly, all of the lights in the hallway turned off.

Immediately, he knew something was off, and he was blind in the dark. He heard a loud shout from Cyborg's room, because his game had cut off. He heard the door being pushed open – the sliding doors didn't work when the electric was off. His eyes were just getting used to the darkness when Cyborg had finally shoved the door open enough for his bulky body. Bee flew out over him, in nothing but a towel. She was wet and irritated, and Robin heard drops of water fall to the floor.

"Why didn't the generator kick on yet?" Robin asked Cyborg.

A light on Cyborg's shoulder suddenly blinded him again. He grimaced.

"I don't know," he growled. Something was up.

Bee touched to the ground.

They started walking to the center of the wing, when there was a loud explosion from somewhere in the Tower. And another. And another. All of the teens fell to the floor as the Tower shook from the force of the three explosions. Robin had a flash of an uneasy feeling. There wasn't time for anything more than a flash. They had almost been to the center, where the boys' wing and girls' wing connected, but there was – all of a sudden – thick dust in the hair. In seconds, they were on their feet as metal screeched and groaned. Then there was a fourth explosion, and Robin saw it. He immediately screamed for Starfire and Raven, as metal cords twanged and dust flew, drywall flakes making the air thicker every second. He started to run for the wing, but the metal pulled away even faster as the left-upper part of the T in the T-Tower swung away. The resulting impact of the fallen structure against the rest of the building put him onto his knees.

How was there no warning?

He saw, at last, through the smoke, a green light. Starfire and Raven were floating where the room should have been, and he could hear one of them coughing as they came closer. It was his ex-girlfriend. Her bare feet had only just touched the floor of the relatively undamaged section of the tower when she was forcefully kicked from behind. RedX had swung in from on top of the roof.

"Oops," he said sarcastically as the pajama-clad girl's face collided with the ground.

Robin could have killed the cocky bastard, and immediately rushed him without much thought. None of them were armed. Hell. Bee was standing there in a blue towel, looking confused beyond belief.

RedX, moving as fast as Speedy, pulled and threw something at Robin. The tool was invisible in the darkness, and just as the balls roped themselves around Robin's feet, three other people swung into the building.

Even though the alien girls, Bee, and Cyborg were completely capable of fighting, they had not been prepared for a home-based frontal attack. There were plans for one, sure, but they had never been executed for an attack of this nature. Most of the villains in Jump City were, honestly, relatively not like 'this'.

Robin felt down to start pulling the binding away, but there was a loud click as he reached down. The two balls opened up, releasing two more, and bound his hands. Then, there was a powerful electrical shock. Robin hadn't created this. As the current rendered him unconscious, he was vacantly aware that RedX wouldn't have built something so serious, either. Slade was back. And he wanted something serious.

–

Do you guys like Doritos and peanut butter? 'Cause it's hella good.


	41. Chapter 38

Wow. I am super hungry.

It didn't last long. It was underdramatic. It seemed like a five, ten minute ordeal. Cyborg was fallen, staring at the wall. He couldn't move, and his system was shut down. Bee had said "Screw the nudity laws," and blazed a small streak, successfully taking down one of the intruders. But RedX pacified her from behind with a Taser to the base of her neck. Raven was fighting in her underwear, but just as ferociously as if she were wearing her uniform. But an XClaim to the face had her rendered useless in a moment, and RedX's sleep-powder modification had put her out cold. Starfire had the highest advantage until she'd been roped, for lack of better words, blindfolded with a specially-made material that her sister had smuggled to Slade, and kicked repeatedly in the side, for good measure and all.

Robin groggily tried to open his eyes. He couldn't move. The little balls, seemingly magically, had spun as he'd fallen unconscious, weaving their way up the length of his arms and legs. He was squeezed so tightly together that it felt like the bones were grinding against one another. He heard bootfalls.

"Robin," he heard the silky, hideous voice say his name tenderly, "Did you miss me?"

He opened his eyes, but his vision swam. He felt the urge to retch work its way up his esophagus. He stifled it, and tried to talk. Nothing came out.

"You let me in without much of a fight," the voice said, and he saw, as pale moonlight streamed into the tower, the calves of his nemesis. The black boots with silver toes stopped right next to his head. He tried to look up. It took him three tries to make his head turn.

He saw the whites of the man's eyes as he bent over at the waist, and Robin felt hot breath on his face.

"I just wanted to say hello," the voice came through the mask. "And, I guess, to see if you were still disagreeing about working for me."

Robin didn't say anything. He felt his face turn red. He'd let his guard down.

"Well," Slade muttered, "I'll take that as a yes."

He grabbed a handful of black hair and pulled Robin to his feet. Robin couldn't feel his legs, let alone stand. Most of his 140 pounds was supported by his hair in that gloved hand.

"I didn't come here tonight for you," Slade said, "Because I know I can't make you work for me. You've shown time and time again that you are a worthless asset."

Robin stared at the man through confused, slitted eyes. He felt his bonds grow tighter, and felt the wiry stuff cutting into him. He saw blackness in the corners of his eyes.

Slade laughed.

The Boy Wonder fell to the ground, and his head it the floor. The bonds pulled again, and he returned to the darkness.

So. Freaking. Hungry! And only three hours to go.


	42. Chapter 39

-coughs-

–

For a month, Robin didn't talk to anyone. He worked. And he worked. And maybe once every four or five days, he would sleep. Every third day he ate, and every other day he drank.

There was almost nothing to go off of.

Cyborg and the girls had fixed the Tower with the help of Gizmo, Jinxy, Bee, and Mammoth within the week it had been damaged. The Tower was silent, for the most part. When he left for food or water, Robin either heard Starfire crying or the voices of the two girls meditating. Cyborg was always in the hangar. Robin hadn't seen him in two weeks.

There was almost nothing to go off of.

He checked his intel. He asked Speedy for his net. He asked The Batman for his net. Still nothing. There wasn't anything, anywhere.

He had the flight track of one unidentified pilot from the night that Slade had kidnapped BeastBoy. That flight track stopped in the middle of nowhere, literally, the middle of nowhere, and no one in the neighboring regions had ever seen a plane or UFO or anything.

There was almost nothing to go off of.

Robin took off his mask and his uniform and laid them on the chair.

He laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

He laid there for six days before Cyborg broke into the room.

There was almost nothing to go off of.

He didn't remember anything after that.

–

Smoking is bad, said the smoker.


	43. Chapter 40

This is the last Chapter of Imperfection.

Thanks a million to all the reviewers, favoriters, people who kept up with the darn thing, the guys who were here from the start and the later people, and all of you who basically dealt with the hiatuses without a complaint. And thank you, anonymous readers with no activity, I see you there, thanks for reading.

You gaiz are full of win.

–

He doesn't exactly know when it is, but it's definitely morning. The blond lady smiles at him, and he knows that today, he can go home. He has decided that he will do whatever it takes to get him back. And for that, he must be a functional, healthy young man. So he has complied with doctor's orders as of late, and he has begun to eat regularly, exercise regularly, and he has – in the last month – began to talk again.

He told the doctors he had not been talking, because he was busy thinking.

A pudgy nurse gives him his things. He walks outside with a smile. He is 20. He is legally an adult. He can do what he likes, and he would like to leave since he is better, thank you. Outside, Raven and Starfire are waiting in civilian clothes. Raven looks older. Starfire looks older. It has only been so long, but without BeastBoy, and then without their leader, they have simply become older.

Raven gives him a small smile. Starfire immediately embraces him. He pats her on the back, and with someone else's voice, he says its good to see them again. He missed them. He can't wait to go home.

Raven agrees, so does Starfire.

On the way home, they all chat. He even laughs a little bit, and they do, too.

Cyborg hasn't found anything concrete yet, but he may have found a digital trail, he had some more investigating to do. He would give the files to Robin when they got home.

He has decided that he will do whatever it takes to get him back.

–

Okay, feel free to shoot me now, 'cause I'm all done writing... This story.


End file.
